Fallout: The End
by Charkole
Summary: *WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT NOT SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 17* Set in between Fallout 3 and New Vegas, join an unsavory group of mismatched people as they travel across the country to save the tri-state area around Virginia from a chemical warhead. This story is not for the faint of heart, the main characters will have to deal with age, liars, sanity and more.
1. Chapter 1

Fallout: The End

8-2-12

**Act 1:**

**Flash**

_Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"_

_-John 11:25-26_

**Prologue**

"Why won't you let me fix it already?" A young girl whined to her brother.

"Because you don't even know how to. This isn't a place for you Rilee, go away." He answered as he applied a wrench to a pipe in their backyard.

"Daaaad!" Rilee whined to her father who worked only a short distance away from them.

"Rilee, leave your brother alone, we're working." Her father answered tiredly.

"But, Dad—"

"Just go inside and watch the holotapes. Maybe finish that book you like so much, the one about the rooster."

"It's a _chicken_, dad! It's Chicken Little!"

"I'm sorry, honey. Go read Chicken Little." He said tiredly.

Rilee looked over to her brother as he bent over the pipe, letting a small necklace fly out from under his shirt.

"What's that?" Rilee asked her brother.

"It's just something dad found." He answered.

"You got _him_ something, but you didn't get _me_ something?!" She yelled at her father.

"Rilee—"

The little girl stomped inside and poked her head out the door at her father.

"I hate you!" She pouted as she slammed the door shut.

Her father sighed and continued to work on the pipes with his son as Rilee ran up the stairs and slammed her door as loud as she could. She plopped in a chair and picked up her book and read quietly, mumbling angrily to herself as she continued to read. Her room was decorated with toys and dolls from a long time ago. Some were burnt, others torn or missing eyes or wheels, yet all of them have something in common; all were painted pink. The girl kicked them around like nothing as she closed her pink curtains so she didn't have to look outside to the family she despised.

She was used to this, her father had already figured out the repeating process of her going outside for five minutes and then running inside to spend more time in her room. Rilee continued to read her book in defeated stress until she had enough, and threw the book on the ground. She left her room and went downstairs to her kitchen where a series of windows displayed their backyard. The little girl sighed and grabbed a chair, bringing it to the counter so she could climb up and open a cabinet far out her reach. She grabbed a box of cereal marked 'Rilee's' and opened it up, eating straight from the box without pouring it out. She moved the chair back to the cleaned dining table and walked back to her room with it, eating the cereal with her hand. Rilee sat in her room, eating silently to herself until she heard a muffled voice outside. There was a conversation happening outside, she thought her father was congratulating the obviously superior brother for his great work at being the favorite. She ate her cereal more angrily until she heard the muffled voices grow louder and louder, entering through the childish wallpaper of her room.

Rilee had enough, and opened up her curtains so she could pop her head out her window and yell at her family to be quiet. When she lifted her head down to the backyard, her family was gone, but the conversation continued. Rilee pinpointed the conversation to the front of the house, and ran down the stairs to continue her plan of nagging her father and brother. She tripped over the front door mat that said 'Welcome' in big, fuzzy letters. She fixed the mat and opened the door to see her father and brother speaking with her neighbors.

Her father always said that their neighbors were different than them. Rilee squinted at the large mob of her neighbors as they stared angrily at her father and brother. The man speaking, or in this case, slurring hate, was in the center. He had a morphed head with some growth from the sea coming out of his left eye. His belly was distended from his white t-shirt, his gaping bellybutton exposed to them. The small girl sensed something wrong, and walked outside to her father and brother.

"We're almost done; we've just fixed the water for me and my family." Her father told the neighbors.

"We asked YOU to fix US first!" The neighbor yelled in a deep, ignorant accent.

"I had to make sure it was right, I mean, you wouldn't want me making the situation worse for you guys, right?" Her father asked.

"You're makin' it _worse?!"_

"That's not what I said." Her father told him.

"What's going on?" Rilee asked her father.

"Get your sister inside." Her father told his son.

"No! I want to stay!" Rilee pouted as her brother pushed her inside.

"Go back upstairs, Rilee. This is no place for you." Her older brother told her as they both went inside.

"No! I want to see what's going on, and _you're_ going to let me!" Rilee shouted at her brother.

The two turned back to the closed door as they heard a loud pop outside. Her brother ran ahead of Rilee and closed the door behind him as he ran outside. Rilee ripped the door open in an attempt to beat her brother outside.

She opened the door to see her brother standing over their father's body as the neighbor's shouted and cursed at him. The mob flipped, and the towering leader ran to Rilee's brother, and punched the boy, sending him flying back into their wall. The mob ran at Rilee, roaring and slobbering like dogs. She screamed and back away from them, tripping over her welcome mat and falling onto her back. She kicked the mat away and unearthed a switch hidden in the floorboard and kicked it accidently with her foot as she backed away from the approaching horde. She shrieked as she crawled away from the first neighbor to run into the house after her. She backed into her kitchen as the house gave off red lasers all above her, setting off flamethrowers at the front door. The neighbor roared and ran at her, grabbing her foot as she tried to kick the attacker away. His face met with the laser, and the walls beside him opened up with rigged shotguns, and fired two shells into the man's face. He shouted and fell back as blood splattered from his neck and chest and onto Rilee's pink dress as she screamed in fear, continuing to back away.

Another angry male replaced the fallen one, and grabbed Rilee by her hair and lifted her into the air. Rilee grabbed everything in sight as she kicked around at the large man. Her hand grabbed a basket of fresh-cooked biscuits and threw it at his face. The man did nothing in response to the attack, and grabbed Rilee by the neck and held down at her small neck.

From Rilee's point of view, she spotted her brother jump atop of the man's back as he choked her. He lifted up a switchblade and stabbed it down into his neck, and the attacker bellowed in pain, dropping Rilee and throwing her brother off of his back and into the sofa.

"Rilee, run!" Her brother yelled as another attacker gripped a baseball bat and swung at the boy's face and brought his neck around to a snap.

Rilee got to her feet and ran out the back door, screaming as she felt a man touch her back. She slammed the door on his hand, slamming doors being something she was good at. The man screamed at his puffy, distorted fingers as Rilee ran outside to her backyard, her eyes running faster than she was. She was met at a dead end; her only escape was to climb the high fence that she could never hope to see above. She jumped for it, but didn't even come close to touching the top. She turned back to the group of angry, mutated men as they walked closer to her. She fell against the fence, and cowered in fear as she hoped they would trip over more traps. They did, setting off tripwires that dropped grenades onto them. It blasted apart the back of the house, but however did not get them all. The closest attack held a baseball bat in his hands, and shouted at her.

Rilee closed her eyes as she heard the air whip around her. She looked up and the attacker was dead, executed with a shot to head. She looked around to see a passing hunter fire his sniper rifle across the yard from the roof of one of her neighbors.

"Leslie, that wasn't an animal." The hunter's son gasped as he looked at the horror of his mother killing a man.

"Don't look, Lennie." The hunter said as she sniped the rest of the neighbors that came at the little girl.

Soon the yard was empty, and the hunter came into the yard with the young boy that traveled with her. Rilee sobbed angrily as she kicked the nearest dead man, tiring herself out as the hunter walked over to her. The young boy watched in pure shock at witnessing dead people around.

"Leslie, what did you do?" The boy asked her.

She ignored him and reached out for the little girl and wiped blood from Rilee's face as she glared at the little girl with the burnt, torn, and bloody pink dress of the girl with hair that was ripped out of her head.

**Chapter 1: Years Later**

I faced the dark skinned adventurer, in awe of his clothing. He wore my father's Vault jumpsuit, in which I gave to Moira years ago. Now he stared me in the face with a pleasant smile as he shook my hand. Moira was right in giving it to him, because just looking at him made me wonder about him. His face was serious, and he had dark stubble growing on his face. He had thick strands of black hair, ending at the tips of his shoulders. On his hip held a sheathed blade, and his back holstered an assault shotgun with a drum magazine, telling me he was suited for harsh battles. I got up and faced him as Joe nodded his head quickly.

"Now that you two have met, we have to get moving. The blast from that nuke is getting closer to us." Joe said to me.

"How are we supposed to get out of here before the chemicals hit us?" I asked him as I pulled my bag onto my back, and picked up a book to read that I found. 'Homer's Odyssey: Translated from Roman Text', it said on the cover.

"A vertibird." The man told me.

"A _vertibird_? How did you get that?" I asked him.

"The question is _why_. And before you ask, I cannot tell you." He said.

"That's fine, be vague. Let's get out of here." I said quickly.

The man and I turned out of my room, and Joe followed quickly behind us. As we walked downstairs, we looked upon Joe's family as they tore up the house in a frenzy. I had thought that this was going to be the end of my worries in the Wasteland. I found a new home away from the bomb in Megaton, and just in the blink of an eye, we were threatened by chemical warfare. Natalie rushed Jessica to hurry up and pack as she flipped through drawers.

"I have to find my earrings from Dukov!" Jessica exclaimed as she ran around

"We don't have time for that, there's a nuclear bomb going off a state away!" Natalie shouted.

"The vertibird is flying itself over here. It'll come shortly." The man said as he walked calmly outside.

"' Flying itself'? How is that possible?" Joe asked.

"If a man knows enough, he can do just that." He smiled as he looked up at the sky.

"Dad, Carrie and I are all packed." Casey told Joe.

"Good. Wait outside and stand watch on the blast." Joe said to his two daughters.

"Jessica! We have to go!" Joe shouted.

"But dad-"

"That blue stuff is getting closer!" Carrie shouted.

"Yes, it is." The man sighed as he walked back inside.

Natalie walked outside while Jessica ran at a hypersonic speed around the house. I walked outside and looked up at the sky as a large, black vertibird descended onto the front lawn. I looked at it, and looked over at the blast behind us.

In the center was a large orange mushroom cloud, with a blanket of blue smoke coming off of it, blending itself with the black smoke. A dog barked next to me, and I looked down at it quickly, not expecting one to be here. Dogs are one of the only animals in The Wasteland that seemed normal, Pre-War survivors that refused to be changed by the radiation that surrounded the modern age. This dog seemed smart, much like his owner. The man calmed down his dog and opened up the vertibird's back, and led it inside, along with Joe's family. The wall of blue gas came ever so close to the house, as Joe watched over Jessica. The vertibird propellers stared to spin as the man sat in the cockpit, calling over to us to hurry up. I got inside and looked at the open front door.

"Joe it's almost here, hurry up!" I shouted.

Joe's fists balled up and he caught Jessica's body and picked her up, carrying her outside as I could hear the large wind coming from the back. Joe threw himself along with the bags as the earth rumbled, and we started to feel the blast.

"Go! Go!" Joe shouted at the man as the doors closed in the vertibird.

Through a crack from the closing door, I saw us ascend as the gas hit the back of our house. The man started to fly the vertibird forward as the gas followed behind us. The door then closed, and we all turned to the man as he flew forward as fast as he could.

"We have about two miles to go until the gas dissipates enough to not be able to penetrate the hull. Hold onto something." He instructed us as the vertibird shook in the air.

We couldn't see that well in the dark vertibird, and there weren't any windows to see the progress that the vertibird has made, so we all relied on the shaking of it to tell us whether we were out of it yet. Joe's family huddled together, almost buried by the amount of stuff they packaged, while Joe and I sat calmly, putting all of our hope into the man to fly us out of here.

"Go faster!" Jessica cried at the man.

"That's such a good idea, Jessica. You're obviously the brains of the family." Joe sarcastically told his daughter.

"Be patient and leave me alone." The man responded to her.

The vertibird then started to beep wildly as the shakes grew more intense. I felt as if the whole thing would flip over in the air. Jessica's cries to the man were eventually cut off from a wailing sound and flashing orange lights telling us that the blast was about to cover us entirely. A holographic screen then popped up, showing us the back of the vertibird; at least I think it was. The screen was a murky green-blue combination that diverted everyone's attention to it, making Jessica and her sisters stare at it painfully. Oddly enough the man's dog slept on the metal flooring calmly, maybe it knew more than we did. As the man drove his fist forward while holding the stick, the colors faded away until we could see them wither away behind us.

"Nice going, kid!" Joe smiled.

"We're not through with this, yet. We must get as far away from this as possible. The gas is so heavily concentrated that it will eventually reach us anywhere." The man said to us.

"So what are we going to do about it?" I asked him.

The man turned around in his chair and turned on the autopilot and smiled at me, saying "Simple. We get rid of it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The First Step**

"Alright, gang, you heard the man, gather up your trash bags and let's go get that sucker!" Joe told his family.

"I'm flying the vertibird south, hoping the air currents will push the gas away to the east, into the ocean. I've gathered some information from the archives of the Brotherhood of Steel, and found one of their bases in the remnants of Florida. We can try our luck there to find something to remove it." The man sighed.

"What about them?" I asked him, motioning my head to Joe's family.

"I'll see what they can do there." The man said.

We stayed on the vertibird for hours, rationing the food that we packed with seven people and a dog. Carrie and Jessica stayed relatively silent throughout the trip, until Natalie hugged Carrie's shoulder and gave her a weak smile.

"It'll be okay, honey." Natalie told her daughters.

"No it's not! Dukov is out there somewhere all alone, getting poisoned and turned into a zombie!" Carrie shouted at her mother.

"Yes, I'm sure Dukov is all by himself right now." The man smiled to himself.

"What's that supposed to mean? Have you seen Dukov in The Wasteland? Do you know where he went?" Jessica asked him.

"As a matter of fact I have, and I'll tell you now, he's _well _taken care of." He smiled at his joke that only amused him.

"Thank you, but it's over now. All of my friends are mindless zombies." Jessica sighed.

"So… no change, then?" Joe asked her. She glared back at him.

"I'm sorry I kicked him out guys, I am." I lied to them.

"Of course you are. It's _fine_." Carrie sighed.

"No it's not. We have to do something about everyone else." Joe said, looking at the man.

"I'll try my best, but now we must worry about our own safety." The man said.

The vertibird pulled up an orange screen as the giant flying machine started to beep wildly again. We all looked at it, while the man quickly grabbed the controls.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked him.

"We're almost out of fuel, I'm going to have to land this." he said as he moved all of the controls and pressed the many buttons.

"_Out of fuel?_ Are you saying you weren't prepared for this?" Jessica asked the man.

"I was, but I didn't think there would be this much weight onboard, bringing us down." The man said.

"Are you calling me-"

"Fat, yes, this is all an elaborate way to get you to lose weight." Joe pointed to his daughter.

I could feel the vertibird descending at an alarming rate, making Joe huddle close to his family while I stared into the cockpit, instantly putting all of my hope into this man, a man in which I didn't even know, not even his name. I sat calmly in the shaking machinery, as I was accustomed to these events.

I followed my father's path into the dangerous wasteland long ago, and doing that brought me here, to a place that is ravaged by nuclear fallout; a place where death is common, even in your own home. A place that doing a simple favor will plunge you into a hole so deep you wouldn't even know how to dig yourself deeper until it was too late. This all started years ago, when a conspiracy in my hometown caused the self-appointed mayor, a past overseer for one of the well-protected vaults, to spiral out of control and bring the downfall that has stricken his own people, right to us to happen all over again. A bomb, we now know that is filled with viral poisons that caused the downfall of Vault 106, has exploded, and is now being breathed in by everyone in The Wasteland. My friends that I've made along the years are zombies, and the gravesite for my mother and father is now riddled with ash. But being out here made me realize that something like this was bound to happen, maybe even the calm dog next to me even knew that, with its outstretched tongue and long yawns. As the vertibird went further down from the sky, the man tried his best to pull it back up for an easier landing, but judging from the blinking lights and raising wails of the beeps, that wasn't going to happen. I held my hands firmly on the seat, gripping them so I wouldn't be bucked off like riding a beast in the wild.

As the beeps grew louder, Joe's family started to scream, until everything went crashing down in an instant. From what I saw, the metal instantaneously flattened and tore up, revealing a sky that was so new to me, I wanted to keep looking at its orange beauty. I knew that I couldn't, because in that instant, the force of the impact slammed me into the floor, separating my senses, and making me pass out into a deep slumber in which I knew was going to be difficult to get me out of.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Welcome**

I remembered awaking in the vertibird, the back and side panel's broken apart almost completely. I could see the bodies of Joe's family, but no blood, at least I thought there wasn't. My head spun and ached with a pain that would make me rather get clubbed by a super mutant than have to bear this. I looked outside, to the grass that was burnt to a crisp by the fires outside the hull of the ship. I could barely see the figure of the man, pulling out his sword, and gripping the hilt of it with both hands. It seemed odd until the blade sparked blue, and the man held the sword in one hand, peering around for anything hostile. Just then, the man expunged his sword into a man, and kicked his body away as it screamed hoarsely. I slowly felt for my bag, and desperately tried to pull the zipper down to grab my pistol. The man sliced into the unidentifiable men, making them scream in pain as the sword cut them up like the hunks of meat they seemed to be. I rummaged through my clothing, feeling my bleeding head, and wiping the blood coming down it, so it wouldn't get into my eyes. I could see from my peripheral view one of the men creeping up behind the overall victor of this battle, about to attack him while he cut up the threats to us. I felt the cold steel and pulled it out, aiming it at the hostile person, and shot into its back, making the mysterious man turn around and run to me.

"You're smarter than I thought you were." He told me as he picked me up.

"I'll… take that as a compliment." I grunted at him as I was picked to my feet.

"Can you walk?" He asked me.

"I'm fine, what about them?" I asked him, looking over at Joe and his family.

"They'll wake up, just as you-"

We turned to a growling noise, and it was the man's dog, chewing up one of the things that attacked the downed vertibird. The dog growled and barked as it bit it, and took it to the ground. The vicious mutt them snarled and ripped at its throat until the thing didn't move. The man smiled at his dog and bent down to him as the dog finished the thing off.

"Good boy, Dogmeat." The man smiled as he congratulated his dog's kill with a petting that pleased both the man and his companion. The dog breathed through its mouth and wagged his tail as the man pet it.

"That's _some_ dog you have there." I said as I took out the clip of my pistol, and checked my ammunition.

"He's been a big help to me for years, even at his old age, he never ceases to amaze me." The man smiled.

We both looked down at Joe's family as the pile of bodies moved slightly. It was Joe, rubbing his head and squinting in pain as he held his head.

"Not so loud, I was really dr-"

Joe stopped mid-sentence and looked around at the wreckage quickly, his head snapping into different positions as he checked the status of the vertibird.

"Oh… never mind. Where are we?" He asked.

I looked down at my Pip-Boy and checked the map, waiting for it to load up. From the looks of it, we were in Florida, right near the ocean.

"We're in Florida." The man and I said at the same time.

We looked at each other and peered at our wrists. We were both wearing Pip-Boys, and we were both holding up our arms, looking at the other person's tech.

"Well... that's something." The man said.

"We'll complement each other's fashion sense later, let's get my unconscious family out of here, huh?" Joe nodded at us.

Joe got up and picked up his wife while the man picked up Jessica and Casey. I grabbed Carrie by the feet and dragged her head across the ground as we left the vertibird by the giant hole created in it.

"I haven't seen any vertibirds like this when I flew in one." Joe said to the man.

"That's because I made some... additions to it. It doesn't matter now, though." The man said as we dropped the bodies next to each other, and faced the flaming vertibird.

"Like what?" Joe asked him.

"Well for one, I have-"

The vertibird ignited into a blinding light and exploded in front of us, making us hold our hands to our eyes to cover us from the sudden light.

"I... _had_ a less flammable metal hull." The man sighed, looking down at his dog, which looked right back up and stick out his tongue.

"Well this whole thing is a-"

"Beach?" Joe turned around and peered into a beach with green water flowing onto the sand, and a pink sun rising on the horizon.

"That was a good one." I congratulated his joke lowly with a nod.

"Thank you. Thank you very much." Joe nodded back at the compliment.

"How's your head?" He asked me as he felt the cut through my hair.

"Better now that you shoved your dirty thumb on it, you should be a doctor." I told him sarcastically.

"I don't think my BAC would be low enough for that."

"Fair enough."

"I can get you medical supplies later." The man told me.

"Cool… I'll just… sit on this moldy tree stump…" I said tiredly as I rested against it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Quiet**

"We're on a beach, Joe." I sighed at him.

"Nice, you should be a cartographer." Joe nodded at me as I closed my eyes.

"Don't make me get up and come up with a comeback."

"This beach is also filled with irradiated beasts; now let's get your family up so we can leave." The man told him.

"Sure thing, I've got a plan." Joe smiled as he crept down to Carrie's ear.

"Hey look its Dukov!" Joe shouted into her ear.

"Dukov?" Carrie and Jessica asked as they opened their eyes.

"Nah, it's not him. He's probably dead, silly children." Joe smiled as he tussled their hair.

"What?! Casey flunked out of school?!" Joe screamed angrily.

"What did I do wrong?" Casey asked quickly as she snapped awake.

"You failed the vertibird crash landing test." Joe said as he bent down to Natalie.

He sighed and looked at his wife, closing his eyes and moving even closer to his wife's ear.

"Gabe Porter has a bigger wiener than me." Joe said reluctantly.

Natalie laughed loudly and opened her eyes, looking at Joe, and ending her laugh abruptly.

"I can beat Gabe Porter's ass." Joe told everyone as he got up and walked to us.

"I do this every morning if you guys are running late. Wanna hear yours, Sarah?" Joe asked me.

"Sure." I said as the man walked to the vertibird.

"Wake up, your parents died." Joe told me.

"Thanks, asshole." I said as I got up and walked to the flaming vertibird.

"I say it because it works!" Joe defended himself.

"That's why I thanked you!"

I looked at the man as he quickly pulled out a briefcase from the flames, and shook his hands from touching the heat. The metal case was lined with what appeared to be lead, protecting it from the fires of the vertibird.

"What's that?" I asked him.

"Something that I prepared." He answered me as he opened it up.

The large case held stimpaks and loads of different ammunition and pistols. The man weapon was a metal crossbow with two triggers and with two bolts at the end of it, with knives attached to it.

"Oooh!" Joe smiled as he cupped his hands together.

"This... is mine." The man said as he picked the crossbow up, along with one gauntlet with rusted metal spikes at the knuckles. He pulled them over his left, bare hand.

"You can have this." The man said as he switched out his drum-magazine shotgun, and threw it to Joe.

"Quiet black guys people are so cool." Joe smiled as he held the shotgun, and holstered it on his back.

"Take these and use them when their necessary." The man said as he quickly pulled the barrels back and put fresh clips into the several pistols inside the case.

"Wait, you mean _us_?" Natalie asked the man.

"Of course. We need to travel south and go through whatever the radiation made here if we're ever going to make it to Orlando." The man said as he threw the pistols at the girls.

"Come on, Natalie, you fired a gun with me before!" Joe exclaimed.

"I was using that to flirt with you!" Natalie retorted.

"You were a ten on the sexy scale! You can burp in my face and I'll date you!" Joe threw up his hands.

"_Were_?" Natalie asked angrily.

"Shit." Joe announced painfully, realizing what he said.

Natalie held her hands at her sides and glared at Joe.

"So..." Joe clapped his hands.

"These are some... nice guns... huh?" Joe asked everyone awkwardly.

"I constructed most of these myself, including my Retractor Bow and Power Spiker." The man informed Joe.

"I-I can't fire a gun, I don't know how!" Jessica stuttered at the man as she held the pistol.

The man sighed and bent his head down into his case. He then turned around and looked at the girls.

"Pull the trigger." The man instructed, turning back to the case.

"I don't think he's lying to you." Joe said to his daughters as he pointed to him.

"Since we both have Pip-Boys, we can use these... inventions that I made." The man said as he pulled up a Stealth Boy.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked me.

"Hey look! It's a Stealth Boy!" Joe pointed.

"Good, but these aren't just any. I made modifications to these. If we attach here, we can power them using our Pip-Boys, so long as we have Action Points." The man pointed out to the ends of our Pip-Boys

"The stuff that allows us to target people in VATS?" I asked him.

"Yes, it runs off of solar energy so those action points show you how much energy the Pip-Boy generates. You can't keep using this over and over, you'll have to wait. Here you go." The man said as he gave me the Stealth Boy.

I attached the light, small piece of metal on the end of my Pip-Boy, connecting it to the port at the end. My Pip-Boy froze for a second, and loaded up the Stealth Boy on my inventory screen.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"You're welcome, now everyone take the rest of the ammo, I can't carry this thing around with us." The man instructed us.

We walked over to the box and took clips of ammunition and put it in our pockets until the box was empty. As I loaded my pistol, a blood-curdling screech gave out near the beach, making us all turn to it including the already barking dog. It was one of the people who attacked us, and looking at it, I realized it wasn't person at all. It wore dampened clothes, was missing most of its hair, and had green skin. It was like a feral ghoul, except it looked more like a mixture of a normal ghoul and a mirelurk king, with its webbed hands and sleek face, and its skinny body that looked like it was wounded, but never bled. It only screeched at us, it didn't run at us or attack or anything. Joe pulled out his shotgun and fired three automatic shells into the mutant, shaking his head at it afterwards.

"Dumbass." Joe told it.

Natalie scrambled for her gun and fired a shot at the already dead body, looking in horror at it.

"Nice job, Quickdraw. I'm proud." Joe sarcastically told his wife.

"Good job, Dogmeat." The man told his hound.

"Well now that this place is clear, let's get going." The man said to us as he got up, and pointed the way.

We all started to walk, the man and his dog walking side by side, leading the way. The dog then started to growl and bark, making us all look at it.

"What's wrong with it?" Casey asked.

"Oh crap, that's a lot of red." I said as I looked at my Pip-Boy's compass, where the red hostile tick marks showed up at the beach.

"Everyone get ready." The man said as we all pulled out our weapons and huddled close together as we stared at the water.

As the green waves crashed onto the beach, several mutants emerged from the water, walking slowly at us, and disappearing for a moment as the waves crashed onto them again. The mutants were unfazed by the force of the water, and only walked towards us, dripping wet with irradiated water from their clothes. More and more emerged from the water, all of them staring with their bloodshot eyes at us. As they went to the shore, they kept walking slowly at us. We took it as an easy sign to fire at them, and we did just that. As we emptied bullet casings onto the sand, more and more of them showed up from all different parts of the water, making some of us shoot to the left, or to the right, or right in front of us. As more mutants emerged, we realized we were heavily outnumbered by the slow-walking creatures. The man put away his sword and pulled out his crossbow, and aimed it at the nearest mutant with his right arm, making a fist in the other. He pulled one of the triggers at it, and the crossbow shot out the two knife-tipped bolts. They were carried by a black, thick wire, and traveled into the mutant's chest. The man then pulled the other trigger, and the knife bolts retracted, pulling the mutant in quickly with it. As the mutant flew quickly at the man, he raised his left arm and punched the mutant in the head with the metal spikes as it got catapulted to the crossbow. The spiked-punch removed the dead mutant from the knives and onto the ground, and made the man turn his attention to the others to repeat this all over again. Next to him, his mutt pounced onto the mutants and ripped their necks apart, making the mutants die out as the dog defended his owner.

"There's too many, we've got to go!" I shouted.

"We've got at least... two minutes to kill." Joe told me as he fired a shell into a mutant, kicking it back into the water from the force of the impact.

"She's right, we're outnumbered." The man said as he punched a mutant in the head with his power fist, making it fly off of his crossbow bolt.

As five more mutants came from the water, they were knocked high into the air by a large circular wave that shook the ground beneath us. We stopped fighting and stared at the massive lift of the water as it soon settled, and continued to pump out more mutants.

"What the hell was that?" Jessica shouted.

"A problem." The man said as he backed away from the water.

"I can't keep doing this!" Carrie shouted.

"Yeah, you can't. You haven't reloaded yet." Joe told her.

"Rea-what?" She asked him.

"How did I ever conceive you?"

One of the mutants got close to Carrie and jumped on her, and started to drag her away, towards the water. Joe ran to her and kicked the mutant off of his daughter, and fired the shotgun at the downed mutant, splattering watery blood everywhere. Carrie screamed as the mutants got closer to us.

"Let's go." The man called as he lead the way quickly.

Joe helped up his daughter and started to run behind us as the mutants emerged from the water continuously.

"He tried to take me, dad!" Carrie sobbed.

"At least you would have been off my ass." Joe mumbled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Roads**

"I think we lost them." The man said as we slowed down.

"Of course we lost them! We could have just walked away!" Joe exclaimed.

"At least we covered a lot of ground." The man said as he looked back.

"But it's not enough." I sighed.

"Are we there yet? My feet hurt!" Jessica whined.

"I take it you keep your daughters in a city most of the time?" The man asked Joe.

"I play in the backyard at times." Casey told him.

"That… that doesn't count." Joe told her.

"They usually stay inside, except for Sarah. Yeah, she's a werido that one." Joe smiled at me.

"Thanks Joe, I'll remember that if I ever get to talk to Gabe Porter." I smiled back.

"Gabe Porter doesn't scare me." Joe mumbled.

"So why are you two so into exploring The Wasteland?" The man asked.

"We kind of had to, my paranoia saved us from being in Megaton when the bomb went off." Joe said.

"I told you, Joe, I'm sorry. I was wrong, just stop rubbing it in." Natalie sighed.

"A few more years, Nat." He smiled at his wife.

"So you left to move your family out of Megaton?" He asked Joe.

"Yep. Sarah and I went through some pretty tough situations doing that." Joe answered.

"Like what?" He asked us.

"Being slaves." I said.

"Killing a rare super mutant colossus." Joe said.

"Living with cannibals." I added.

"Fighting a deathclaw." Joe said.

"Being screwed over by a slaver." I told him.

"That's it, then? I've seen worse." The man told us.

"What was it like for you?" I asked him.

"I grew up in a vault, and when I was eighteen, my father left and broke The Overseer's rules of cutting off everyone from the outside, and so I followed him, because he was the only family I had left." He informed us.

"Wow, that sounds harsh." I told him.

"What vault did you leave?" Joe asked him.

"Vault 101." He told us.

"Really? My dad grew up in that vault!" I exclaimed.

"I heard they used to let people in and out when I was younger, was that how he got out?" He asked me

"No, it was longer before that. He convinced the vault to open up a trade route with Megaton. It ended when my father died, and the vault hasn't opened since... well, your father." I said, remembering my father.

"My sympathies." The man told me.

"Yeah, well we're a couple of miles into this walk. Are you sure you have friends here?" I asked him as I looked at my Pip-Boy.

"Yes. I'm positive. Their base is heavily fortified and expansive." He informed us.

"They better have beds." Jessica threatened.

"I'm sure they do." The man told her.

We walked on roads with dead trees looming over them, but these weren't the normal charred, blackened trees that I was used to seeing. These trees had small, brown leaves coming off of them, and most weren't knocked over, or even burned. The air smelled of salt, and a cooling wind made the sweat beading off of our faces better to cope with, making some of us smile in relief as it hit us. As we admired the rising sun on this beautiful landscape, the man kept walking, unsatisfied by the pink sun rising over the looming trees.

"Wow, this place is better than The Capital Wasteland." Joe complimented as he looked through the trees, and spotted the homes in Florida, that have yellowed with the dropping of the bombs, and cracked away much like the roads we walked on.

"That's because you haven't seen all of the dangers here. There's a reason why we haven't seen anyone on these roads." The man warned.

"What do you mean? What's here? Are there birds, I'm allergic to birds." Casey told him.

"N-No… birds?" The man asked her.

"Yeah, I-I don't know…" Joe mumbled to the stranger.

"You'll see what's here in due time." The man sighed.

As we walked on the roads, Joe and his family lagged behind, making the man and I wait up for them. The man became impatient, but calmed himself down as he looked at Joe's family more.

"Hold on... hold on. I can't keep doing this." Joe sighed as he sat down on the curb.

"We're a few miles until the base." The man said to him.

"I'm too tired to be walking this much. I'm pretty sure I'm getting a bunyon." Joe wheezed.

"Don't say that, Joe." I eased him.

"Really, don't." Carrie said disgustedly, looking at her father rubbing his feet.

"Is that a bunyon?! No, wait, that's just a blister." Joe sighed as he rubbed his bare feet.

"Alright, I guess we can set up camp in one of these houses, then." The man said as he pointed through the trees.

"Finally! Sleep!" Carrie said loudly as she walked to the trees.

The man cut through the trees with his sword. Dogmeat followed his master as he led us to a slightly unscathed house, with an irradiated pool of water in the backyard. The trees stopped in this neighborhood, and they seemed to be gone everywhere except for the few on the roads. With the sun still high above our heads, the man slowly opened the door to the two-story house and looked inside, holding his blade further away from his body. He looked at the blade, and peered at the reflection of the blade, looking into all of the rooms without having to go inside them. The house had many windows that let the sun shine through them, but now, they were cracked, dirty, or even shattered in this house, but still let the clear sun go through and illuminate the dusty house. As the man used his blade to look into the house, Carrie and Jessica set rooms, rooms that were right next to each other.

"Is it safe?" Casey asked the man.

The man held his finger to his mouth as he looked at his blade, and crept to a room with his guard dog. The house stayed silent, looking at the man as he moved into the room. He cracked open the door and stuck the blade inside, moving it around so he can see inside. The man moved his head closer to the sword's reflection, and then moved back when a mutant popped out and grabbed the man, stabbing itself in the process. It was greenish brown, and looking mostly human, except for its extremely dry skin, and long, knife-like hands, that were sharpened to a point as it tried to get the range to stab the man. It screamed in pain with its shrill voice, making it sound like a heavy smoker that was gargling. It pulled itself closer to the man, wrenching itself further and further into the sword until the man had to let go of the sword, and kick the hilt of it, making the sword go all the way through it. He then punched it with his Power Spiker and sent it into the wall, blood running down its face, and stuck on the wall, and refusing to drop to the ground as the sword held it up. The man walked to the sword and pulled it out of the wall, and the mutant, making the corpse fall onto the ground next to his dog, which barked at it once. He then sheathed it and looked at us.

"So... whose room is this?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Fun in Hell**

As the sun set on us, we barricaded the back entrances, and the man bordered up the open windows with the wood that was chipping off of the wall, and a case of rusted nails that were found in a cupboard in the kitchen, along with Joe slamming his shotgun into the nails to put them into place. Once the house was barricaded, we pulled out some useable chairs and sat them at a table while we shared some pork and beans with potato crisps and irradiated water and soup. The man's dog loyally laid down on the ground next to him as he sat in the chair, and took it as a time to rest.

"This stuff tastes like shit." Jessica said as she picked up the soup with a spoon.

"You'll get used to it." I told her.

"We're not like you, Sarah, okay? I can't drink pee or… whatever's in this bottle." Carrie glared at me as she lifted up the water bottle.

"I thought we were over this, Carrie-"

"Well we're not." Jessica snapped at me.

"Wasn't talking to you..." I sighed as I took a chip from the bag.

"I don't think that's pee. I know what pee looks like, and that's not pee." Casey told us as she looked at the bottle of water.

The table silently stared at Casey, and then slowly returned to the conversation.

"While we're all here, I took it upon myself to tell you all what I packed." Joe smiled at us, and then at his wife.

"Please don't tell us the weird stuff." Jessica sneered.

"Not _that_. Booze!" Joe exclaimed as he pulled out two bottles of whiskey.

"I actually thought you packed more bottles of pee." Casey chuckled to herself. Her sisters looked at each other for a moment while Casey giggled to herself.

"Good. I wanted to drown the memories of this place anyway." Carrie sighed.

"Don't be a sourpuss." Joe said as he poured it into the glasses around the house.

"Are these clean?" Jessica asked.

"Pfft." Joe knocked his head back at the question with a smile.

"Wait, you're kidding, right?" Joe asked her.

"I can go for some drinks; I'm going to need it after this." The man said as he sat back in his chair.

Joe gave us the drinks and we started to drink them down, exhaling with smiles afterwards.

"I've got a game for everyone." Joe said as he drank from his glass.

"Go ahead with it." Carrie yawned.

"It's a game I always play at the bar, it's called Nuke, Knife, Bullets." Joe explained to everyone.

"You go to bars?" Natalie asked.

"How else do you think I got these?" Joe asked as he lifted up the shot glasses.

"Anyway, at the same time, we all put out our hands with either a nuke..." Joe held his fist out to us to show us how to make it, although it was pretty simple.

"A knife..." Joe then changed his hand to two fingers held close together, and made a stabbing motion.

"Or bullets." Joe switched his hand to his pointer finger with his thumb held up, resembling a pistol.

"So let's try this out." Joe said.

"This sounds stupid." Jessica said.

"Well there's a reason you're the only daughter whose name doesn't start with a C." Joe said to her quickly as everyone held their arms out.

"Wait… what are you-"

"Okay let's start. On three." Joe told us.

"One... two... three!"

The table made a different assortment of figures at the center of the circular table. I held out a nuke, seeing as that was the reason why we were in Florida, not because a knife, or bullets.

"Bullet beats nuke, Sarah." Joe told me as he held up a finger gun.

"That doesn't make sense!" I exclaimed.

"This is a game that drunken people play, it doesn't have to." Joe said as all the other nukes held their hands down.

"Alright, knife beats bullet, but not nuke." Joe said as he held down his hand.

"So that means Nat wins!" Joe exclaimed. Natalie smiled and clapped her hands, bowing her head afterwards and letting her blonde hair go down over her eyes as she picked her head back up.

"Can you tell me why my name doesn't start with a C now?" Jessica asked her father.

"Sorry, I can't hear losers." Joe said with a smile.

We played the game a few more times, despite how much Carrie and Jessica said that they hated it. At time I won, using a bullet, or even another nuke, and it made us laugh, forgetting all of the things that led us to this moment.

"Sorry, Sarah! You lost to a hand… fist, I mean nuke." Joe said drunkenly.

"Well the hand must belong to an asshole." I told him with a smile as I looked at his nuke.

After we were done with that game, Joe held up his bag and took out a deck of cards, shaking it in his hands.

"Why don't we have a little wager?" Joe snickered.

"Shoot, tex." Jessica said as she aimed her pistol up into the air, and accidentally pulled the trigger, firing a round into the ceiling, and sprinkling dust over the table. We looked at her for a moment, and burst out laughing after.

"Look at that, Joe. You've got a family of gunslingers." I smiled at him. Carrie glanced over at me, and took a sip of her drink.

"It's another game that I play at the bar, usually when I get there early. This game's complex, but don't worry, we're all too drunk to play the game right, or wrong. Sorry, I overthink things when I'm drunk." Joe said as he set the cards down.

"That's ironic…" Natalie mumbled.

"What's the game? Was it that weird game Uncle Phil played with me?" Casey asked.

"That guy wasn't your uncle, Casey." Natalie told her seriously.

"And the game's name is poker, little lady." Joe said.

"What are we betting?" I asked him.

"Since we don't have much money, let's bet ammo, unless you're too attached to that stuff." Joe looked around.

"I can take it." I said as I pulled the barrel back on my pistol, and dropped my clip.

"Now this game is all about faces. You see, we have to make a bet using our ammunition, and the certain combination of cards we have, but we can't let others know that, because they can just fold, which kind of means give up for the time. Let's try it out." Joe pulled cards from the deck and separated a few of them between all of us.

We started off of the game, and I looked at my set of cards, trying not to make any kind of face, whether it was confused or not. Joe then explained the numbers on the cards, along with the faded brown pictures on them as he described what a good or bad "hand" would be. My hand, as Joe described to everyone was pretty good, and so was Casey's, as she smiled, and tried to cover it with a cough. The man instantly folded, putting his cards down on the table. I peered around at everyone as Joe took some bullets out of his pocket, and placed his bet. As players, we were to raise a higher bet to draw out everybody else's hand, call them, or match their bet. I took it carefully and called the bets, while Casey raised her entire clip. Carrie glared at her sister and called it, drawing out our hands. We laid our cards down on the table, and Joe looked at our hands. Joe then declared Casey the winner of all of our bullets. We reluctantly gave out bullets to her as the man smiled at us.

"Yeah! Now I can sell these and buy a pet bird!" Casey laughed as she brought all of the bullets to her.

"Eh… w-wh—"

"Sarah, jus—just let her…" Natalie told me.

"Nice going Casey." Natalie said to her daughter with a fake smile.

"Good work, Casey. We have to do this again until someone runs completely out of bullets, or quits." Joe said to us.

We repeated the game, with everyone winning some at least once. Jessica and Carrie seemed to enjoy their wins, their hands throwing up in the air and laughing at their victories. Eventually the night grew upon us, along with the want to sleep, so we called it a day and went to our rooms to sleep, including Dogmeat, who instinctively got up and followed his master to his room. I laid down some of my clothes and used it as a bed, as there wasn't one in here anymore. As I was about to lie down, Joe came inside.

"Yeah?" I asked him.

"Are you alright?" Joe asked me.

"I thought we wouldn't have to be doing any of this." I told him as I looked around the room.

"I know, Sarah. I know, but… I'm just too drunk to have a serious conversation right now." He sighed.

"Me too." I told him.

"I guess that cancels it out, then. Let's talk."

"Who is this guy anyway? I don't even know his name, do you?" I asked.

Joe's eyes looked down at the floor.

"Really? Can we even trust him?"

"Look, he saved our lives and now he's trying to continue to do that. That's enough for me."

"Is it enough for them?" I asked him as I looked over at his family's room.

"Why do you care anyway? They're not even your family."

"I just don't want you to owe him too much, okay?"

Joe nodded and backed to the door.

"Thanks for the warning. Goodnight." Joe said, almost in a whisper. He turned around and walked away as I hoped he would listen to me.

I used the rest of my extra clothes as a blanket and went to bed with a smile on my face, a book in my hands, and a few extra bullets in my pocket.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Not Recommended**

I awoke with the sun on my makeshift bed, my throat pained and my head swirling. I got up slowly, holding my head as I lumbered to get my bag. I changed through my sweated, bloodied, and dirtied clothes into fresh ones, and put the old ones in my bag. I took out my hair brush and brushed my hair in a cracked mirror in the bathroom, hoping doing that would give me my sanity or vanity back. I took out a bottle of water and drank from it, thinking it would get rid of my hangover. I walked half-aware into the dining room, where the man and Joe were talking as Dogmeat sat next to them.

"Really? That must have been hard to watch that." Joe said to him.

"It taught me a lesson though. When I went out for my father, I learned a lot of those." The man said.

Joe and the man turned their heads to me as they packed up and moved the barricades out of the way.

"Morning sleeping beast!" Joe smiled.

"Not so loud, dammit, and that joke wasn't A+ work, either." I mumbled as I walked to them.

"Yeah, maybe we drank a little too much last night." Joe said to me.

"Really. I would never have guessed." I said sarcastically as I took another sip of my water and closed it, looping the bottle into my jeans' belt rings.

"Well we're about to head out, and I'm about to wake up everybody. Care to watch?" Joe propositioned.

"I'm awake." Carrie sighed as she stumbled out of the door.

"Did everyone drink too much?" Joe asked.

"Daddy, my head hurts." Carrie sighed.

"Like I said, you'll get used to it." I said.

"You're used to everything, aren't you?" Carrie asked us.

"Gunshots still hurt." Joe said sarcastically as I walked to the front door.

"But not as much as before." I added as I helped move a desk out of the way of the door.

"Dad, that toilet doesn't flush." Casey told her father.

"Casey, no one's used this house for centuries." Joe told her.

Casey raised an eyebrow at her father and walked away. Joe looked quizzically at me and I shrugged at him in finished getting his family up and we got ready to go. I lopped my pistol into my jeans and got ready to go. The man started to lead the way as we walked back through the trees, and onto the road, where we slugged down to where we had to go, including Dogmeat, who was breathing through his mouth and moving his pink tongue around.

"Do you know anything about this place?" Joe asked the man.

"I know that it's well fortified, and still functioning with power. That's it." The man told Joe.

"Well at least there's safety." Natalie sighed.

"Is it by the water?" Casey asked the man.

"No, why would that matter?" He asked her.

"Because you saw those things come out of the water, and that big thump in the waves, too. We should just stay away from the beach." Casey warned.

"She's right, there was a big splash." Joe advised.

"Nice thinking, Casey." I congratulated her.

"I'm running out of chems, guys." Casey told us blankly as we walked.

"It could have just been the sand caving in from all of the things walking on it. Mind you, it's been centuries since someone's used that water." The man suggested

"They have so much of it here, and they can really use it for something." Natalie said.

"They could, if they had the purifier technology my father used." The man said.

"That was your father? He made The Wasteland a better place, believe me." Joe said as he patted the man on his back.

"Sure he did." The man mumbled.

"Really, he did. And I know you didn't want to hear it, but I just felt obligated to." Joe said.

"And how did you know that?" The man asked.

"Sarah's been through something similar." Joe said, looking at me.

"I doubt it." The man said quietly.

We heard a crinkling in the trees and Dogmeat growled at it. I pulled out my pistol while Joe's family scrambled to get a hold on theirs. It was a mutant, and it stared at us with its dry face and screeched into the sky above it.

"Quick, shoot it!" Joe shouted.

The three of us shot at it, ending the screech with several bullets in the chest and head. We sighed and started to walk, but we stopped dead in our tracks when we heard screaming in the distance. These were the screams of mutants, and they popped up everywhere. To my left I heard a high pitched moan, and to the left I heard a deep groan. We spun in circles, looking at the many areas where the mutants were screaming. Soon, the slow walking mutants came, with their bladed hands, some with crab-like hands, and dead skin falling off of it. We started to slowly back away from them as the screams grew louder. Our heads snapped to our sides when a high pitched scream gave out, ending all of the other ones. A figure soared through the air, flying high above the trees and landing perfectly in front of us. It had a hunched back with gray skin, and blood red eyes. It stared at us, clenching its fingers and walking at us. Joe shot his shotgun at it and it instantly jumped out of the way, and landed on a tree branch in the blink of an eye. We turned and shot at it, and it continued to dodge until its eyes stared at Casey. It catapulted itself from the tree and grabbed her, jumping with her into a tree, and carried her away as it jumped from tree to tree.

"No!" Joe yelled as he sprinted after it.

We ran after him, shooting at the dexterous mutant as Dogmeat sprinted after it, faster than all of us. I turned to my side and saw the man looking at his Pip-Boy.

"It's trying to carry her to the water!" The man shouted.

"Casey!" Joe shouted as he fired at the mutant.

"Don't, you'll shoot her!" The man shouted.

Casey screamed as the mutant jumped across the street, with her on its back. She flailed her arms around, slapping its back in attempt to get it to drop her. We ran down the streets, passing endless amounts of the walking mutants. The mutant then approached an irradiated lake that pumped out feral mutants. As the mutant carrying Casey approached it, the man took out his crossbow and aimed it at it, squinting as it moved around. It then took Casey and jumped at the lake, flying across the rooftops as it tried to take her in. The man fired his crossbow at it and the knife tipped bolts flew from their wire into the mutant, cutting off his forward momentum and turning it backwards, flying into the man as it dropped Casey next to the water. As the mutant screeched and retracted through the air, Joe caught it by the neck and ripped it from the knife bolt, slamming it into the ground as the knife returned to the stranger's bow. Casey's sisters shot at the mutants while Joe coughed, holding his foot down on the mutant.

"Sarah, give me your pistol." Joe wheezed.

I threw him my gun while Natalie picked up her daughter and brought her away. Joe took the pistol and continued to hold down the mutant at its neck. He then aimed it at its legs and fired into them both several times, making it shriek angrily and move around quickly as it tried to escape.

"Not jumping anywhere now, are we?!" Joe asked it as he breathed out.

"Joe! They're everywhere!" Natalie shouted as the mutants came from the lake.

"Well then I guess we'll have to bring this up another time." Joe said as he threw me back my pistol, and got up from the mutant.

He walked away it the mutant tried to get up, but only barreled into the ground as it tried to use its clearly broken legs. The mutant screamed loudly, crawling slowly at us while we ran from the endless amounts of mutants. Left and right, where slow walking mutants, coming out of the woodwork faster than they could walk. They were everywhere, trying to claw at us as we ran past them. I pushed them out of the way as the man lead us away. My head ached and my ears rang with every gunshot, but I guess that's what I deserved from drinking half a bottle of whiskey and going to bed immediately afterward. The man pointed ahead to a large entrance covered by high up walls. Dead cars were everywhere on this street, and it slowed everyone down as we had to dodge from them. As we made it to the gates, a small river ran through the entrance, and we had to jump over it. We lunged over the water as the walking mutants chased after us. We backed away from the water as we heard a loud noise.

A cart rolled through above us on a rail track. It echoed out a warm welcome as several different rifles poked out of the rusted scrap metal car and it screeched to a stop.

"Welcome aboard the Walt Disney World express monorail, our highway in the sky to the Magic Kingdom!" The male robotic voice said as the several assault rifles and machine guns shot out bullets and plasma at the mutants, dropping them down as the miniguns spun up and did the same.

"What the crap is that?" Joe asked.

"For those of you standing, please hold onto the handrails throughout our journey, and stay clear of the doors." The monorail voice said as the miniguns shot out sparks as it made a reckless abandon of the roads and mutants.

Soon the mutants dropped, and the area was clear, and a door opened up and a man walked out with orange power armor. He took off his helmet and waved at us.

"For the comfort of others, no smoking please. Thank you!" The monorail voice said, just as the man lit a cigarette and laughed down at us.

"Welcome to Disney World!" The man shouted.

Joe looked at the man and his cart with his mouth open and his eyebrow up. He stared for a moment in awe, finally moving his tongue to speak.

"The hell's a Disney World?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Remnants**

"Follow the monorail to the Magic Fortress, we'll fill you in there." Our armored savior said as he flicked the cigarette to the ground.

The man soon joined his orange-suited men in the monorail and closed the door, zooming off on the tracks above us as it guarded the water. We looked at each other awkwardly and followed the tracks as we took in the sight of their fortress.

Small buildings blanketed in the area, with old signs displaying broken advertisements for food or a place to play games, but have since aged to the point where they are no longer applicable. Even higher above the monorail's track were other railings that twisted and contorted with chipped away paint that used to draw attention to them. These were everywhere, and ranged from sizes, colors, and shapes of them. The water seemed to move with us as we walked, along with the Brotherhood of Steel troops, moving around to stalk us, and see if we were dangerous. As we walked forward, a large figure soon emerged behind the kiosks and buildings.

It was a castle, with jagged, pointed tops to the towers surrounding it. It looked down upon this empire of abandonment, still standing with its fading blue color and bordered up walls. The six of us stared up at the massive building as a walkway brought us right to it, with dead plants sitting next to it, which were as black as the atmosphere in this dreary place. Knocked over and mostly disintegrated signs showed us the way, as if it weren't completely obvious with its stairs and paved walkways. We walked up the dozens of stairs and walked into a large chamber, where the man who welcomed us here stood with his helmet in hand next to the visible leader. Several other Brotherhood men accompanied them, all facing us, while guarding the leader, with his shaved head and scarred left eye that removed the blue color from it.

"Who are you people?" He asked us in a serious tone.

"An introduction would have been nice." Joe mumbled.

"We're from Washington DC, and we're here to bring you news." The man said, stepping forward from us to address them.

"Give us news? With young girls and a dog? Something tells me you aren't a professional." The leader grunted.

"These... 'young girls' and I are the last survivors of The Capital Wasteland." The man said in an angry tone, that still seemed respectable at the same time.

"What are you talking about?" The leader asked him, angrier and less respectful than him.

"Hm..." The man laughed quietly.

"The Brotherhood; The most high and mighty of all scavengers, counterfeit gladiators, and scribes, so eager to take in the Old World that they have become ignorant of the New World and its problems. So I ask you, patron of the Floridian survivors..." The man smiled at him.

"Who are you, who do not know your history?" The man finished.

"W-Wh… I-I don't even know what the hell you just said to me." The leader told him honestly.

"The Capital Wasteland has been reduced to ashes due to the petty arrangements of The Enclave, 'making humans the most powerful species once again'. The Brotherhood and their urge to take what seems important now have a drawback, and the most powerful weapon of the Old World... has detonated, setting back the time that humanity used these last 200 years to rebuild society once again." The man informed the leader.

"_Detonated?_ How many bombs were there?" The grizzled man asked.

"The 'how many' doesn't matter, only the consequences that the detonation of a single one are important to us now. The Capital Wasteland is gone, once again, choked by chemicals that hinder the greatest weapon we, as humans, have been blessed with; the brain." The man explained.

"Can someone else please paraphrase this guy?" The leader asked one of us.

"So… there are chemicals?" The leader asked, piecing together the stranger's conversation

"If you haven't understood me, I'll put it into... simpler terms. Yes, they have been altered by chemicals." The man sighed.

"Are you sure?" The man asked.

"We wouldn't be here if we weren't!" Carrie shouted. Joe whispered into his daughter's ear as he held her shoulders calmly.

"And what do you require of us, then?" The leader asked.

"Simple: a solution to an age old problem. You obviously have... _some _intelligence since you set up an irrigation system below your monorail tracks." The man said.

"It's used to power this place for when we need it." The leader informed us.

"Hmm... you've learned something from being here. I ask of you to use your brain for an area purifier, or even a cure. Can you do this?" The man asked.

"You're asking too much of us, we have power, sure, but we don't have the technology that the other chapters do. I'm sorry, but we can't do anything."

"Then ask your other chapters for the tech." I suggested.

"They can't do it." The man told me, glaring at the leader.

"Why not?" I asked him.

The man looked at me for a moment, and then walked further out to the leader, who sat down in his chair, accompanied by his armored monkeys with large weapons. He then turned back to me, his eyes set on my face.

"These men aren't Brotherhood of Steel."

"Of course we are! How do you explain our armor and weaponry?" The leader shouted at the man.

"Any man could find power armor and weaponry like the ones you have, but you have forgotten one thing. The only symbol The Brotherhood of Steel can hold to, their insignia, always out to eye down their prowess to others not willing to bear it. No, you know nothing of how the Brotherhood acts, but you want to." The man glared at the leader.

The leader sighed. "Please… just have someone else talk to me!" He whined.

"Why would they do this?" Natalie asked the man.

"Because they're no worse than a common raider with wit." The man said, pulling out his bow and aiming it at the leader.

We followed his lead and we all pulled out our weapons and picked a single target to aim at. The leader sat, concerned in his chair as his men pulled out their laser rifles and assault rifles and aimed them back at us.

"It seems we're at an impasse." The leader grunted.

"So it seems." The man said back in his deep voice.

"What are you going to do? Attack us?" The leader laughed.

"No. You and I both know that won't bring us anywhere." The man said.

"So why are you aiming your weapons at my men?" The leader asked.

"We need answers, and appealing to your senses is going to get us there." The man sneered.

"I'm not going to tell you anything, especially if you think breathing down our necks with guns is your idea of a negotiation, you're wrong!" The leader echoed in the large fortress.

The gates behind us open to a helmetless man, panting and coughing over his knees. He crawled on the floor, and eyed the leader.

"General Lamb! We've got Slotters and Clampers everywhere! It's like they're invading!" The man shouted.

"How many?" General Lamb asked.

"Hundreds!" The troop coughed.

The leader gasped. "_That's a big number! _GATHER THE TROOPS!"

"Yeah, come on lamb-chop, go be a hero." Joe said to General Lamb with a smile.

"Cyanide, bring your men to the monorail and defend the irrigation, we can't let them use the water against us." The leader barked at the man who welcomed us.

"Got it." Cyanide said as he jogged away with the men behind him.

"What about you, great general? What's going to happen to you?" The man asked General Lamb as the rest of the troops ran off, eyeing us as the leader swayed them away with his hand.

"I don't have the time for a Mexican standoff! Those Slotters are going to be walking in here at any minute!" General Lamb shouted.

"That's false. A Mexican standoff usually has three people with weapons aimed at each other. There are more than three people here." Casey informed him.

"Shut up, I wanna listen." Joe mumbled to his daughter.

"We've got more time than you like to think." The man grunted.

"I don't have enough men for this kind of battle. Please help us, and I'll tell you everything thing I know!" General Lamb pleaded.

"A smart man never bargains with a con man." The man snapped back as he nodded at us. We pulled the hammers back on our pistols and got ready to shoot.

"Fine! Fine!" The leader quickly shouted.

"We're not raiders, we're… just people, The Brotherhood abandoned this place, but we took control and used it to house all the people who came along. We have enough information from the guys before us to point you to the right direction of the tech you want. We'll even point give you a boat that can take you there… just help us." General Lamb pleaded.

"No!" Casey argued, snapping her fingers at the proposition.

"Casey, please stop talking." Jessica told her.

"Thank you for your honest cooperation." The man said as he lowered his bow.

We started to walk out of the fortress in the black sky as the General moved around and sighed.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To think about think about your proposition." Joe answered with a smile.

We walked down the stairs and ran to the gates, where the monorail was guarding the outer perimeter with its several machine guns. Joe checked the drum magazine and loaded it back in.

"How's your ammo, Sarah?" He asked me after he reloaded.

"What ammo?" I responded disappointingly.

"Well this can't go any better." Joe sighed as we walked to the water system.

As we walked, we stopped and stared at the amount of Slotters waiting for us. Hundreds, standing shoulder to shoulder, walked painfully slow towards us with their angered and insane faces. We raised our weapons and fired as the monorail shot further behind the front line of enemies, with the monorail voice describing the history of the amusement park. We stood next to each other and pulled up our weapons, at the same time the power was turned on in the amusement park. The dark, depressing, dusty memory of fun was transformed in the blink of an eye with colorful lights, and moving rides, bobbing up and down the tracks as the whole place lit up. I aimed down the sights and fired a shot into the nearest Slotter, making it snap to the attention of the bullet, and fall over, letting the others walk over it and take its place. The man fired his bow into the crowd, and pulled one random Slotter in, knocking down the ones in its way. The stranger then punched it off of the retracting bolt, and sent its bleeding body back into its normal place. Joe aimed the shotgun and shot off shells as fast as he could, sending blood everywhere, splattering the ground, and tainting the water with it. The man let his dog onto the ones that got close, and Dogmeat quickly dispersed of them and ran back to his owner to continue protecting him.

Above us, the monorail door opened, and a soldier went out, shooting his assault rifle down at them and screaming angrily. He then pulled out a glowing green grenade and pulled the pin, sending it into the crowd afterwards. The bomb exploded in a brilliant plasma-fire, letting all of the Slotters know who exactly just sent dozens of them flying into the air. Through the giant line of Slotters, one of the jumping mutants soared, jumping off of the heads of the Slotters to get closer to us. It finally jumped onto the soldier's head, ripping off his helmet as it stood on his shoulders. The soldier screamed and back away as he yelped in pain.

"We've got Nappers! Keep your eyes out and help him!" Cyanide shouted.

The Napper then showed its strong abilities and picked up the man, jumping away to the water. More soldiers tried to run after their comrades, but were pulled back into the monorail by Cyanide, who ordered to leave him. The Napper took the man away, and jumped into a pond of radiated water, where the water was used to make electricity with a water mill. The soldier and Napper splashed into the water as the stranger and his mutt tried to run and save him. I chased after and looked into the pond and the Napper ripped the man to shreds, letting us know its progress with the amount of blood rising to the top of the water, and the amount of bubbles. Soon, the murky figures slowed down, and swam to the shore. The man fired his bow into the Napper, and retracted it. Instead of punching it off, he dodged out of the way of the body and let it fly off the blade and hit a wall, slowly sliding down with a bloody and watery smear. He then stayed clear of it and fired into the Napper's head, making sure that he didn't touch its irradiated body.

I looked back at the pond, where a dark figure splashed out of the water. It was the soldier, his armor torn and bleeding, and his face gray with his now blackened veins visible on his face. He looked at me for a moment, and crouched down, growling. He then screamed and jumped at me with his arms outstretched. I pulled up my hands and blocked my face from his fast movements, waiting for him to pounce on me. I looked at the newly formed monster after it refused to jump on me. It was inches away from my face and connected to a knife-tipped bolt in his bloody neck. It flew away from me and to the man, who was standing on top of a small kiosk, and behind a wire that suspended a sign. The soldier-turned-Napper hung by the wire as it choked and dripped water onto the cement below it. I aimed my pistol at the hanging soldier and targeted his chest in VATS. I then fired, my Pip-Boy jolting my shooting hand and making the bullets fly into the man. I fired as much as my Pip-Boy could allow into its chest until he stopped moving, and my gun clicked, out of ammunition. The body slowly slipped off of the blade and barreled into the ground, bleeding from his corpse and motionless. The man looked down at me and nodded, hopping off of the kiosk and patting his dog on the head. I nodded back and we walked back to the monorail, where the bullets fired off at retreating Slotters and Nappers.

"They're retreating!" Cyanide shouted.

"They're mutants, how do they know to retreat?" Joe asked as the bullets stopped firing.

"When people get taken into the water, their brains are intact, but transformed into a feral beast. They want to tear you apart, but they still have the smarts to do it whenever possible." Cyanide informed us as he looked down from the monorail.

"That's just perfect. 'Mutants with smarts'." Joe sighed.

"Are you okay?" Natalie sobbed as she ran to her daughters and hugged them.

"We're fine, mom, even without Sarah's help." Carrie sneered.

I turned to her, ready to give my explanation. "I went to go and-"

"Leave us to die, that's cool." Carrie glared at me.

"There was a Napper in the pond, he could have flanked us!" I shouted.

"You just want the small stuff, you're still too afraid to fight, just like always!" Carrie yelled back.

"What is your problem? We're all okay, and that should be enough!"

"We're not all okay! My new pet bird just flew away!" Casey yelled.

I stuttered angrily at Casey for a second. "YOU SAID WERE ALLERGIC TO BIRDS!"

"Not if I don't believe that!" Casey argued.

"Stop fighting and let's go back to the Magic Fortress, okay?" Joe interrupted us.

"Fine." I grunted as I walked off.

We walked back to the Magic Fortress that was now lit up with brilliant blue lights that marked its presence even more than before. The lights moved around and still drew attention from us as they flickered and spun around. We walked up the stairs and then opened up the gate.

"We did your work, now give us what we want." The stranger demanded as his dog stared at the leader.

"If you haven't noticed, those Slotters _retreated_, meaning they're coming back, and with more of them." General Lamb said, trying to educate us.

"Those mutants won't matter if you find yourselves choking and turning from the chemical warhead that went off." The man tested

"Our helmets can filter the air, we'll be fine." General Lamb retorted.

"They can prolong your consumption to it, but not for long. Eventually you'll have to give in and take it off to eat." The man grunted.

"We can give you shelter here, but that's it. When there are still Slotters out there, we're all in danger." General Lamb folded his arms as sat back in his chair.

The stranger and his dog turned away and walked out of the room, with us following after him.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"He wants to see a reason for us to leave, then that's exactly what we're going to do." The man exhaled deeply.

The man lead us back down the stairs, and started to walk around quickly, making us chase after him. Soon, the man slowed down and sighed to himself, putting his hands on his hips and looking around.

"We should find a place to rest for the night." He told us in a calmer tone of voice.

"We can lead you to one of our hotels where the other families stay." Cyanide called out to us, making us turn around to see him stalking us.

"Why do _you_ want to help us?" Jessica asked angrily.

"Maybe it's because I'm a good guy." He smiled as he walked to us.

"You want to be the leader of this place, don't you? " The stranger asked.

"Now _that's_ a better reason." Cyanide smiled.

"I know you want to take us down, sure, but we're not doing anything wrong, at least not yet. Lamb's going insane, and I'm afraid he's going to do something drastic soon, that's why I want him to step down." Cyanide shrugged.

"Give us one good reason to trust you." I said to him.

"I've got a boat that can take you out of here. If you get me the position of leader, I can have access to the reports of the Brotherhood and Enclave, and give you a location to find the tech you need." Cyanide informed.

"So what do you say, partners?" He propositioned us.

Casey snapped her fingers at him. "N—" Her father then covered her mouth and nodded at Cyanide.

"Fine." Joe said to him.

"Good, the most intact hotels are up the path there. Good luck... and welcome to The Wastead Beach." Cyanide smiled as he walked away.

The man turned around and walked with Joe and I while everyone else followed.

"Can we trust him?" I asked the man.

"No. He's bound to stab us in the back eventually." He responded as his dog walked next to him.

"That's usually the case." Joe sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Unknown**

We approached an at least a 15 story tall hotel with faded red lining and a yellowing white stone wall. Some floors were blasted apart, but compared to the other hotels next to it this one was the best, just as Cyanide had said. We walked to it and forced open the doors, walking into the lobby, where grass and other vegetation already started to grow in through the cement, and it bristled past our legs as we approached the stairs. The six of us started to walk up it, passing the floors that seemed full of soldiers resting until we reached the twelfth floor.

"This one's burned halfway to shit!" Jessica asked.

"I hate these stairs. They remind me of that dream I had… the one with the stairs." Casey sighed.

"Just one more floor, and we'll see if we can rest in one of the rooms there." Natalie eased her daughters.

"No can do, the stairs end here." Joe said.

"That's impossible! It's way taller than that!" Carrie shouted.

"Let me try it." The man said as he knocked on the wall where the stairs were supposed to be.

"It's hollow, there's something behind it." He said as he back away from it.

"Good, let's tear up the building that we were granted to rest in." Joe said as he pulled out his shotgun and fired into the wall, knocking over dust and creating a small hole in the wall.

Joe walked closer to it and moved over the crumbling hole with the barrel of his gun, moving away the dust and collapsing the wall down so we can walk through. We entered the cold room and looked around it.

It was basically empty, except for a metal framing, presumably holding down some kind of tube, next to it was a locked terminal.

"Hold on, let me see this." I said as I walked to it.

I cracked the password to the terminal by factoring out the impossible, just as I have always done. It was good to get some practice after being away from a terminal for so long. When the terminal opened up, I looked through the files, and spotted one, hidden away as much as the room has been. It was a text file, so I opened it up to read it.

"What are you doing, Sarah? Let's just go." Joe sighed.

"Hold on, let me read this." I said to him.

The note read:

"Clarke Beters, April 4th, 2079

Walt's condition has been fading fast, and we had to make harsh choices. We're taking him away and shipping his stasis chamber across the country to Nevada, with a new persona so he can get the treatment he deserves without the attention of the media, if there's even any left. I'm not like the others here I don't care if there's been a nuclear bombing. We've kept this away for so long we can do it again. The neuro-scientist here altered his memory while he was in the stasis chamber, and now he has the memories of a person we created named "Robert House", and if he ever wakes up again, he won't be obligated to spill the beans on the experiments done here. The rest of the staff was afraid of what's out there for the first few months. They haven't left the park since the bombings, and frankly, even I don't know what the state of the outside is like. We have a lot more people trying to come in, there are so many people, and we turn them away every time. They started to get angry with us and attacked last week. They killed Donothan and ran off towards the pond inside the park. The rest of the team drove them away and drowned the wounded in the water, and left the bodies inside as a warning to others. The staff here got angry with us then, but we had to do it, I mean, we don't have anything else to fight them off with. The rest of the team just set out to hunt down the rest before they attack again, leaving me and Walt here. I've decided to keep Walt away from all this and hide him on the thirteenth floor from everyone, because one day those people are going to be back, and I hope they only find me: a single man, in a giant amusement park."

I looked at the message, nodding at its information. I got up and looked around the room more.

"What is it?" Joe asked.

"There must be more here, this can't be the entire floor." I said as I felt the walls.

Behind me, the man looked at the stasis chamber frame, and grabbed it as his dog tilted his head to the side. At first I was going to ask what he was trying to do, but then the frame started to move, and it activated a series of wires that were tucked away in the wall, dropping it down into the floor, and revealing the entire floor to us, complete with red velvet carpet and red paint that seemed like it was brand new. The air smelled fresh, and there didn't seem to be a lot of debris in there, except for some parts of the ceiling and wallpaper tearing off. All the doors where made of wood, and were closed. Upon the activation of the wall, the lights switched on, one by one, until the entire hallway was illuminated. We walked through to the hidden away hall, appreciating the beautiful interior.

"Well... this is... better." Joe sighed in relief.

"You got that right." I said back in awe as I looked around.

"I want this to be my room!" Carrie shouted as she ran to the nearest door.

"I want this one!" Jessica shouted as she ran to the door next to her.

Carrie ran and held out her hand to the door, and began to open it.

"Wait." The man shouted as he ran after her.

It was too late, as Carrie opened the door fully, and revealed two Clampers, their faces warped into evil wrapped in infected wounds, with its bladed bodies, with spikes coming out of every orifice. They choked on the spikes sticking from their throat, and had dried blood all over their mouth. They jumped up and attempted to roar as they choked on their spikes. They ran at Carrie as the man reached her and pulled her away as their clamped hands grabbed onto the door frame, and ripped the wood off. The man turned around with Carrie in front of him and pushed her away as Jessica backed away in shock. The man back kicked the door closed on the two Clampers and turned around with his bow as Joe unsheathed his shotgun, and Dogmeat ran and bit the finger off of one of the Clampers. The Clampers ripped the wooden door off of its hinges and charged at us, knocking through the man and running into Joe's shotgun. He fired off into its head, making a clean hole through its brain, and making it drop to the floor slowly. The other Clamper still had a bone to pick with Carrie and ran at her as it slobbered blood and gargled bone it in its throat. It ran into Carrie and clamped her arms as it open its mouth full of spikes and tried to take a bite out of her. Joe pulled the trigger of his shotgun, but it only clicked in response. Carrie screamed as she tried to wiggle free of it, but it only made its clamps dig into her arms more. The Clamper then retracted its head back and slammed it forwards with its spiked mouth open. The Clamper jerked back for a moment, and fell to the ground in front of Jessica, who held her pistol, and shook her hands violently. Carrie sighed and felt her bleeding arm while Dogmeat barked at the corpses.

"I'm not sleeping in that room." She said quietly as Jessica had a nervous breakdown immediately afterwards.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Nervous**

We used the rest of our ammunition clearing out rooms for all of us, while barricading the rest with garbage bins and debris that were coming off of the walls. The man walked to the bathroom doors that sat side by side next to each other, with both doors closed.

"Does anyone need to use the bathroom?" The man asked tiredly.

"No." We all said pitying the effort he's dishing out to make us safe.

"Alright, just tell me when you need to go and I'll clear it out." He said as he holstered his crossbow and walked away.

I went into my room as Joe pulled out the corpses and stacked them at the end of the hall. Joe came back to check up on me while I took up my book to read on the bed.

"They must've crawled their way up the wall." Joe said as he pointed to the open window.

"Be careful, and shout if you hear anything." Joe warned me.

"Do you remember who you're talking to?" I smiled at him.

"I don't care how many things you've killed in The Capital Wasteland. These things are different than what we've seen." Joe said.

"More dangerous than a super mutant colossus?" I played with him.

"That was different. I didn't have to put up with Jessica's screaming and Carrie's bitching when we killed it." Joe said.

"Alright Joe." I nodded at him.

"Okay. Goodnight." Joe said as he walked out.

I opened up my book and started to read through it, smiling at the calmness that it gave to me. As I read through it, I started to think about what Joe had said to me. He was right we haven't experienced something like this before. We have to worry about his family this time. We're running out of supplies and ammunition and we're not even close to done with this place. The Capital Wasteland's depending on us, and we can't even take care of ourselves.. I wanted to do something about it, but I couldn't. I don't even have the hope to find some technology to get rid of the gas, let alone cure every one of The Capital Wasteland.

As I pondered, my door opened up to the man, who looked at me calmly as his dog sat in the entrance of the room and tried to sleep.

"Are you alright?" He asked me.

"Shouldn't you be asking Carrie?" I asked back.

"She's not one to talk when she's blaming everyone for her wounds." He said.

"I could have guessed that would be the case." I nodded.

"That was nice hacking at the terminal back there. I haven't seen someone with that amount of knowledge." The man complimented.

"Megaton used to have schools back in the day. They even used to have guards." I told him.

"But it became too much to handle." The man sighed, knowing exactly what I was about to say.

"Exactly."

"You've got a nice dog there." I smiled at the dog as it looked up at me and wagged its tail.

"I found him around D.C. in a scrapyard. He took out all of the raiders that killed his last owner. He's been with me ever since." The man told me.

"He seems very loyal." I smiled at him.

"Where did you learn all the stuff you know?" I asked him.

"The Wasteland forces change on a man. There's a line you have to cross that will break you down to the dust on our feet, or let you rise to the top of the chain of power."

"You mean you just took it all up when you left the vault?" I asked him.

"Most of what I know, yes. Some I learned while inside, like how to shoot and use medicine." The man sighed.

"My father wanted me to be just like him and become a doctor." The man smiled for some reason.

"But then he left." I finished for him.

"Yes." The man told me.

"I heard The Overseers have power struggles inside the vault, just like the outside. That's how my grandfather died. Your father was better off leaving the vault." I told him.

"No he wasn't." The man disagreed as he turned his head away from me.

"When I left the vault for my father, I had couldn't imagine all the changes out here. I couldn't even fathom how bad it was to get water that was clean. You see, my father was head of the project that brought clean water out, and he needed my help to complete it. We were so close to completing it when The Enclave came with their sophisticated armors and fake knowledge of how to help people." The man said as he looked out my window.

"They forced my father to kill himself to save me and the rest of the lab team. I had to watch him die as The Enclave swarmed the building." He continued as he turned around to me.

"The Wasteland itself doesn't force a change on us. _We_ do to ourselves." The man said.

"After The Brotherhood of Steel helped me take back the building, I turned to the libraries in the area, and learned about everything I could about what happened in the past, so I could predict when man would turn on man, and what exactly they will do when The Wasteland makes them crack... and fall." He told me. His face turned to a weak smile she looked at me.

"Who are you who do not know your history?" He quoted himself.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you." I told him.

"Don't be. It taught me a valuable lesson. People aren't what they seem, even when they say exactly what they are, because for a good world, there has to be bad people in it to remind you of what's at stake."

"That's not true. From what I've seen, you're a good man."

"You have no idea." He shook his head at me as he walked around.

"Or perhaps you do..." The man said as he scratched his chin.

"Tell me, what did The Wasteland do to change you?" The man asked me.

"My father grew up in your vault. Back then, it was just as hard to get in, but it seemed easier to leave. Back then, the vault was on the verge of starvation, and The Overseer chose only my father to leave and get the food and water outside. The Overseer only sent him because he wanted him to die. He thought my family burdened the vault. The only reason my father left was to kill the man who killed his mother, a man named Chain. Out there, he was shot and almost killed because we didn't have access to stimpaks, or other common medicines. Out here in the wastes, he met my mother and he started to think more. Like you said, it changed him, and made him think about whether it was worth it now that he had a wife and child. My father set up a trade connection with vault 101 and Megaton, and allowed access to both places. He then went after Chain not for revenge, but to keep me safe from people like him. He kept me that way until The Highwaymen stole everybody who were like my father and turned them against the rest of the world to create an army." I explained to him.

"Then what?" The man asked.

"My father came back, but it was too late. The Highwaymen's forces were already attacking, and they killed my mother. That was the last time I saw either of them, because my father left to kill the leader of the forces, and end what they were doing, at the cost of his life. Right after he died, the vault closed down, and broke off everything my father made."

"I'm sorry, and I regret to say the... 'Highwaymen' are still out there. They changed their name to Talon Company and they try to do what their old leader did. They're weaker, but they still are dangerous, _were_ dangerous." The man said to me as he looked down at the ground.

"I guess it's my turn to say I learned something from this." I smiled lightly.

"I didn't." I said to him, looking at him in the eyes. The man looked at me for a moment, confused.

"My father made Joe swear to leave me away from The Wasteland for the rest of my life, just like my grandfather wanted for my father when he entered the vault. It made me a coward, afraid of the simplest arguments with people. I made my father ashamed of me whenever I shook in fear." I said.

"Then the bomb came to Megaton." I said as I got up from my bed, and held my book loosely in my fingertips.

"Joe didn't want his family to live near something so dangerous, so he left his job of being the sheriff and set off alone to find a new home. I realized this was the only way I could make my father proud, so I packed up my things and followed Joe out so I could prove to everyone that I wasn't afraid, that I was fearless like my father. While we were out there, The Wasteland started to change me into the thing my father never wanted: a killer, murderer, a common scavenger. While we were out there, we found out that the bomb was manufactured in a vault by an ex-Overseer so he could take control in case his people act up. No one had the smarts to defuse the bomb, so Joe's family and I just left, making everyone lie about the bomb and say that it's been here ever since the town was started, so no one could feel afraid around it." I said.

"And then it went off." The man sighed.

"And now we're here."

"I appreciate the talk we had. We have more in common than I thought." The man smiled at me.

"You know, I don't even know your name." I smiled back at him as he got ready to leave.

"Names are only important if they matter to the person. What do _you_ want it to be?" He asked me.

I looked around for an answer, and then looked at me book and opened it up.

"Ulysses." I said to him, naming him after the main character of the Odyssey.

"Ulysses." He smiled, repeating the name.

"The Roman translation for Odysseus, a man who defied the odds and became a hero by being equally as powerful and smart, and using them both to defeat his enemies so he could make it back home." I told him.

"I like it." He smiled at me.

"We should get some rest." Ulysses said to me.

"Yeah." I smiled as he walked out of the room.

I turned over to the window and looked out of it, looking t all the brilliant lights of the amusement park. Looking at it only made me wonder how great this place was back then. I realized I still have the notes from the terminal in my Pip-Boy, so I held my wrist up so I could look into it. I flipped to the second entry and opened it up.

"It's been a week since the staff left the amusement park. Walt used to keep me company before he left, but right now, I've got no one. I hope they found rescue and are showing them to me now. This place gets dark at night, and I hate being alone, at least I have all these people trying to get in..." The note read.

I then opened up the second one, which was dated a few weeks later.

"The staff never returned and I'm running out of gas to power the park. I've shut down the rides and Magic Kingdom, and I've kept myself on the thirteenth floor as long as I could. A family tried to jump its way over the fence into the park, and I had to- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!- his daughter cried over him as I just sat there and- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!- I had to do it, damm- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!" I sighed and switched to the next one, which was a few more weeks later.

"Bastards are trying to claw me out of teh park-ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!- getting up from pond lik zombies.i got bit by one of them the other day and he tried to carry me away. they're so pale, like ghosts- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!-my hands are shaking as i type the terminal- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!-ost so much blood-ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!-ower is dwindling-ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!" I looked to the next entry after this, which was a month after this one.

"There tryig to get me here- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!- can't let dem do- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE! loaded up fire sprinklahrs in hotel wi-ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!- try n get me now. can't get Clarke- ERROR! CORRUPT FILE!" I sighed and moved onto the last one when the door opened to Carrie, holding her arm, and glaring at me.

"Yeah?" I asked her.

"My arm's like this because of you!" She blamed me.

"How is it my fault that you can't fight?" I asked her as I stood up angrily.

"You couldn't shoot him! You were too scared!" Carrie shouted.

"I'm out of ammo! Casey traded it all for a bird!" I shouted as I held up my empty pistol.

"Bullshit! You sat there and watched me get clawed by that thing!" Carrie yelled.

"What is it you want, huh? You want an apology for something I didn't do? You want me to magically cure The Wasteland so you can go back to getting drunk with guys?" I asked her angrily.

"I want you to leave our family alone! Achielles was right, you're a burden to everyone around you!" Carrie yelled.

"Achielles tried to have you killed, you half-witted, ignorant asshole!" I yelled.

"Get away from us!" Carrie yelled as she ran at me and threw a hook with her arm.

I ducked as she ran her fist over the space above me. I sidestepped and punched us in the kidney, and dropped her to her knees.

"I'm not the person who you think I am, Carrie. I'm different, and I'm here to help you!" I yelled to her.

"You only help yourself." Carrie grunted as she turned around and pushed me into the wall.

She readied a fist and pulled her arm back, as she pinned me against the wall. As she threw her fist forward, she jerked back in pain and fell to the floor. A Slotter who wore a lab coat that said "Clarke" bit her in the shoulder, and it came from the entrance to the door. Carrie screamed as she dropped to the ground. Just then, the hotel blew up with screams down the hall as doors bashed open and people fired off their weapons. I grabbed the Slotter's shoulders and readied a knee as another entered through the window and tackled me slowly. I pushed it away and pushed it against the window as my head bled over my hair and eyes. From the corners of my eyes, I saw down below that the Slotters were attacking in full force, invading the entire park by the hundreds. I threw the Slotter out the window, and it smacked off others that were scaling the walls. I turned around to Carrie, who was motionless on the ground as the Slotter picked her up to carry her away. I ran at it and tackled it to the ground, dropping Carrie, and sending me on top of the Slotter. I punched it in the head as something grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back. It was another Slotter. I tried to break free, but the two Slotters held me down and bashed my head against the floor.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Awake**

I woke up in a white room with a high up ceiling and a fuzzy floor. I didn't feel anything, and I couldn't feel the blood rolling down my face anymore. I got up and felt my face, looking around the room. Next to me was Carrie, who moaned and brought herself to her feet, looking around.

"Where the hell did you bring me?!" Carrie yelled at me.

"I didn't bring you anywhere, you got taken out by a Slotter because you're too strong and courageous." I said sarcastically.

"Then where are we?" She asked as she pushed my away.

"I don't know!" I shouted, lying to her as I looked around the familiar room.

"You did this to me! I'm never going to see any of my friends again!" Carrie shouted as she shoved me again.

"That's not entirely certain." A female voice said, making us stop fighting and look at her.

It was a woman with long red hair and a flowing white dress. She seemed to blow in the wind, even though there wasn't any.

"I know you..." I said as I walked to her, making Carrie glare at me as I walked away from her.

"And I know both of you, Sarah and Carrie." The woman said gracefully.

"Are we dead?" I asked her.

"Not entirely. One of you died, the other will get up, but I'm unsure who they may be." The woman explained to us.

"Then why are we both here?" I asked her.

"Who the hell is this chick?" Carrie asked angrily.

"Somebody who wants to help you." The woman answered. I nodded my head at Carrie, saying "It's true… I think."

"Sarah, every time you come here and you aren't ready for death, The Abysmal Plane will still try to take you. It _will_ deceive you, and one of you will fall to it in the end." The woman said, her voice flickering.

"What's going on with her?" Carrie asked.

"I don't know." I answered as I looked at her flickering body.

"Well do something, she seems important!" Carrie shouted.

"I don't know how!" I screamed as I pushed her.

"Strength." The woman said as the room twisted and warped.

"Wait! Is this heaven?" Carrie asked her.

"No." She answered.

"It's far worse." She said to Carrie in a serious voice as the room turned black, and we fell into the floor.

"Aw, dammit." Carrie mumbled to herself.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The Truth is Always A Lie**

I woke up on a solid surface, hoping it would be in reality. My head was foggy and I had no idea what had happened to me. I picked myself up and looked around. The sun was high on the green grassy lawn I was on. This place seemed familiar, but it was different all the same. My head was clouded and my eyes hurt from keeping them open. I was on a sidewalk in a suburb. In the distance I only saw desert and dusty roads that end at this oasis. I looked around frantically until I saw Carrie, running down the street and looking around. I ran to her and stopped her.

"Where the hell am I?" She sobbed.

"I don't know. Just calm down and we'll-"

"Sady! What are you doing? Get inside the house and leave her alone!" A voice shouted.

"Sady?" I asked as I turned around.

"Sady come on let's not start this game. Did you take your medicine this morning? I wouldn't want you to dance like a fish out of water at the reunion!" The man joked.

I looked at the man closely as he smiled at me. He had slicked back brown hair and a shaved beard. He wore a white dress shirt and slacks and had a high stature.

"Daddy!" Carrie shouted as she ran to him.

"No, stop!" I shouted as I grabbed her.

"Get off of me! Don't you see that it's him?" Carrie yelled as she pushed me away.

"Sady let go of her!" Joe yelled at me.

"But Joe-"

"Stop with the names Sady. I thought we were over this kind of stuff." Joe said to me.

"Daddy get me out of here, please!" Sady sobbed as she ran into Joe.

"Uh, Daddy? I'm sorry miss, but I'm not married yet, I would never have premarital sex!" Joe said to her awkwardly as he pushed her off gently.

Carrie looked at the man with her mouth open.

"Who are you?!" Carrie yelled.

"I don't believe this. Sady did you put her up to this joke again? I thought I was the funny one!" Joe laughed.

"Not in this world." I mumbled.

"How do you not see that it's me, your daughter?" Carrie asked.

"Well you look about my age, and I haven't been with a woman since I had some Aunt Jemima's this morning!" Joe laughed.

"That's not Joe, Carrie." I told her.

"Of course it's not! I'm John, nice to meet you, but Sady and I were trying to get ready for our high school reunion dance before she lashed out again." Joe said to his daughter.

"Sady, do we need to call Doctor Fredrickson again?" Joe asked me.

"No. No you don't." I answered as I looked down at the beautiful grass.

"Good, so get ready." Joe said as he went back inside the white painted, two-story house.

"What would you do if you haven't moved in..." Joe mumbled as he walked away.

"Why didn't he recognize me?" Carrie asked me.

"Because they aren't who they look like. This place looks like a world where the bombs never dropped. You _do_ know that's how The Wasteland was made, right?" I asked her, treating her as a child.

"Yes. The Japanese bombed us in a war." Carrie said angrily.

"Chinese." I corrected her, shaking my head.

"Can you stop lecturing me, dammit? We have to get out of here!" Carrie yelled.

"We can't go on and make people think we're insane, that never got me anywhere." I told her.

"Wait, you've been here before?" Carrie asked.

"Yes. I go here when I want to." I told her.

"Then why don't you get us out of here you mental idiot?" Carrie pestered.

"Because I don't know how I left the last time. Everyone unraveled it themselves and it triggered the... Abysmal Plane is what she called it…well it triggered something and I woke up." I said to her.

"Then trigger it!" Carrie shouted.

"I've got a better idea, how about you listen to me?!" I shouted back.

"I don't have time for this shit." Carrie scoffed as she walked away.

"Where are you going?" I called after her.

"I'm going to find my mom, and she's going to get me out of here." Carrie said.

"She's not going to recognize you." I told her.

"It's better than staying here with you!" Carrie yelled at me.

"Just go along with this, and once we get our bearings we'll figure out what to do, okay?" I asked her as I grabbed her by the shoulders. Carrie glared at me for a moment and contemplated her decision.

"Fine. But I'm going to that reunion, and I'm going to look better than everyone else." Carrie said to me as she walked to the house.

"What's going on, Sady? You look as clammy as a fish!" Joe laughed at a joke that flew over our heads.

"You're definitely not my father." Carrie said to him.

"Glad you're coming clean. I was about to send you to the mental hospital for another check-up, Sady." Joe looked at me.

"Asylum?" I asked him.

"No, mental hospital.. Herbert M. Eugton Asylum. Does it ring any of your little bells?" Joe smiled as he poked my face and broke out into laughter.

"How are old are you?!" I asked angrily, pushing away his arms and making him stare at me.

"I mean... are you one year older or younger than me?" I saved myself from looking crazy.

"I'm 27, just as old as you, silly goose!" Joe laughed.

"The hell's a goose?" Carrie asked me quietly.

"This is a weird friend you've got here, but this a weird household!" Joe laughed as he put on a tie and looked at his daughter.

"What's your name?" Joe asked Carrie.

"You know my name, you fu-" I elbowed Carrie before she could say anything else.

"I mean, I thought I already told you. My name's Carrie, nice to see-_meet_ you." Carrie smiled as he shook her father's hand.

"Yeah, I thought you would remember her because she went to the same high school as us." I said to Joe.

"Really? That's wonderful! Are you going to the reunion?" Joe asked her.

"Yes she is." I answered for her.

"Well alright! I'd love to see you at the dance! Maybe you can do a better twist 'n pop than me!" Joe smiled as he started to dance badly.

"Please stop doing that." Carrie said disgustedly. I glared at her as she cleared her throat.

"I mean... save it for the dance!" Carrie laughed it off with Joe.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to go... talk about stuff... upstairs." I said uncomfortably as I took Carrie by the hand and brought her up the stairs.

"'Talk about stuff'? What kind of girl are you?" Carrie asked angrily.

"One that doesn't want to look insane." I said as I looked through several clothing and drawers, trying to find clothes for us.

"Alright, put something on." I said to her.

"Ew, no! I'm not wearing another person's clothing!" Carrie said disgustedly.

"Have you already forgotten that this world doesn't exist?" I asked sternly.

"I still have standards." Carrie crossed her arms.

"A corpse won't have standards." I said as I threw her a dress.

"Look through your purse and see if we can find anything." I said as I pointed to her pocketbook that was hugged closely to her shoulder.

"Why?" Carrie asked me.

"Because if we're going to get answers we're going to need to talk to people. If we don't know anything about this place, we're just going to end up having conversations about the best way to hunt down a brahmin and how to cook it properly." I said.

"What's so wrong about that?" She asked.

"What's the point of saving you if you're already brain-dead?" I asked rhetorically.

"I still have assets." Carrie said as she searched her purse.

"Boobs aren't assets."

"Maybe not for _you_." Carrie insulted as she picked up a plastic card.

"My name is supposed to be Cathy Sanders. I'm a doctor apparently." Carrie said to me.

"That's a surprise." I said as I put on a dress.

"Check mine." I said as I pointed to a purse in the corner of the room.

"Fine." Carrie sighed as she picked it up.

"You're name is Sady Mannsten. You live with my dad and you don't have a job." Carrie smiled.

"She's my doppelganger, idiot. Do you know what that is?" I asked her angrily.

"Another word for the truth." Carrie smiled as she gave me my purse and took a pink, skinny dress.

"I'm going to go do my hair up right, haven't gotten the chance since we left home." Carrie smiled as she skipped to the bathroom.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." I grunted.

"I made sure my hair was straight and walked downstairs where Joe was sitting on the couch, watching the television.

"Looking good, Sady! This is your favorite episode, you know, the one where Captain Cosmos beats the space queen! Or would you like me to heat up the leftover meatloaf in the microwave. It's still good, oh- and we still have some corn on the cob and mashed potatoes!" Joe smiled.

"At least you still enjoy yourself." I smiled as I sat down next to him and looked at the glowing screen.

The screen displayed a moving person, almost like a hologram. He was a space man with a helmet and he had a monkey sidekick who looked similar.

"_Are_ you enjoying yourself?" I asked him.

"Are you?" Joe asked back.

"No, but I think you deserve to rest." I told him with a smile.

"Well you get to be a handful sometimes, but I think moving in was a smart idea." Joe said as he looked at the television.

"Why did I move again?" I asked him.

"I thought you would remember what happened a few months ago!" Joe laughed.

"Well after you let Jocelyn onto Chris, Victoria called the cops and they sent him away to the asylum after he kept blathering on the same stuff you do. They almost took you too if it wasn't for me offering to look after you." Joe explained.

"My father's in an asylum?" I asked as I looked down.

"I mean, Jocelyn was locked away this whole time?" I asked Joe.

"Yep, I mean they had a right to do it, he was crazier than a headless chicken!" Joe laughed.

I stared at him silently until he finished laughing.

"What happened to Victoria and Chris?" I asked without a smile at his terrible joke.

"They never wanted to see us again, but that's the price I guess." He sighed.

I thought to myself, "Great, my dead father's locked up in a fictional asylum, and my dead mother doesn't want to see me again. Things couldn't possibly get any worse." Then, it did.

"I look amazing, don't tell me." Carrie smiled as she walked slowly and elegantly towards us in a skinny dress.

"Easy enough for me." I mumbled.

"You too look great, so let's get going, huh?" Joe smiled as he put on a blazer.

We walked outside as Joe held onto a set of keys in his hand. He walked to a garage and opened up the sliding door to a blue car without a single chip in the paint. It was as glossy as Carrie's pink make-up and sparkled in the sun.

"Do you have your own ride?" Joe asked Carrie.

"No, she doesn't." I answered.

"Alright, you can come with us, then." Joe said as he opened up the door to the car without it creaking.

"Well what are you two waiting for? Come on, ya' snails!" Joe laughed.

Carrie sighed angrily at his joke and we went inside the car. I sat in the back while Carrie sat next to Joe in the passenger seat. Joe put one of his keys into the car and turned it, making the car hum and shake. Carrie jumped from her seat and screamed on the top of her lungs.

"What's wrong?!" Joe asked.

"Uh... I." Carrie looked at me for answers.

"I saw..." Carrie stuttered and mumbled as she looked at the car.

"What? You saw a fly? Gosh, you girls are more jumpy than a bean on a skillet!" Joe laughed.

"Let's just go." Carrie sighed as she sat in the chair.

"Not until you put on your seatbelts! God won't be responsible for forgetfulness tonight!" Joe waved his finger.

"Why is God supposed to be responsible?" Carrie asked.

"Religions." I coughed loudly at her, reminding her of what they are.

"I didn't tell you this before Carrie, but I'm a man of God, and Sady here's Mormon." Joe nodded.

"That's just-"

I coughed and interrupted Carrie's sentence, and she looked at me.

"That's perfectly... acceptable... and not weird to think about on a daily basis." Carrie laughed.

"Uh, okay. Let's get going, won't want to be late for school when we're this age, huh?" Joe laughed as the car started to roll out of the driveway.

Carrie and I looked around at the ground as the car started to move out onto the street, where other cars rolled, and the drivers just sat there, holding the wheel.

"Whew, that sun is cooking us in here. Mind if I turn on the air conditioning?" Joe asked us.

"Sure." I said as I looked at Carrie, not knowing what I agreed to.

Joe then turned a knob next to the wheel and the car then made even more noise as fans blew wind into us.

"I... I can feel that." Carrie said in awe as she held herself and looked around.

"Of course you can! Best conditioning on the market!" Joe smiled.

The car moved quickly down the street, making turns and waiting for the other cars to pass by him on the road.

"Joe-I mean, John. My mind is stumped, where do we live?" I asked him.

"We live in Minerfield, silly! In Nevada!" Joe laughed as he raised his fist into the air.

"Nevada..." I repeated as I looked out the window.

As we drove, the sun soon turned into night upon the beautiful Suburban town. The car slowed down to a stop in a parking lot, and the engine cut off as Joe took out his key.

"Alright, we're here." Joe said as he stepped out of his car.

We followed him out and we walked in the packed lot towards an illuminated building where other well-dressed people walked into. Carrie and I followed him into the building, where it was cooled, just like the car. Carrie looked around until she looked behind her, where a man and woman stood, laughing and smiling as they held each other close.

"Jessica?" Carrie asked the girl.

"Close, but no dice. My name's Jenny." Jessica smiled at her.

"Dukov?" Carrie asked the man angrily.

"Daniel." The man smiled as he spoke in an Italian accent.

"Well screw you both!" Carrie sneered as she turned away.

As we waited on a line to a desk, Carrie pulled me away, out of Joe's sight.

"Listen, don't think I forgot what that lady told us. One of us is getting out of here and it's going to be me. Just stay out of my way, and you won't have to die twice." Carrie threatened.

"You won't last a second without me in there, you don't know anything about this place." I insulted.

"Who says I need to?" Carrie asked.

"Who are you, who do not know your history?" I quoted with a smile as I walked back into the line.

"You know there's something wrong with your brain, right?"

"Name." A woman at a desk ordered Joe.

"Johnathan Sneiders." Joe told the woman.

She then looked at a piece of paper and gave Joe a piece of paper. Carrie then pushed me out of the way and walked to the woman at the desk.

"Name?" The woman asked.

"Carrie..." Carrie stopped mid-sentence and I started to laugh quietly at her stupidity.

"Sanders." Carrie finished.

"Cathy Sanders?" The woman asked.

"Uh.. yeah, close enough." Carrie said as she took a piece of paper and walked away.

"Look at that, we have similar last names!" Joe smiled at Carrie.

"They're supposed to be the same." Carrie mumbled.

"What was that?" Joe asked her.

"Nothing." Carrie smiled.

"Well since it's nothing, would you like to dance?" Joe asked her.

"Fine." Carrie grunted as she took her father's hand, and they walked together to the dark dance floor that seemed barely lit up by a series of red and blue lights.

"Name?" The woman at the desk asked me.

"Sady Mannsten." I told her confidently.

"Here you are." The woman said as she gave me the slip.

I looked at it, and it said: Swallow slip for mental recognition. I raised and eyebrow and threw the slip away as I walked into the large and dark room where many people slowly danced, and some people sat on the sidelines in chairs. Music echoed in the room as several groups of two people danced together. I looked around, and then walked to the chairs and sat down to think.

Carrie deserved to live, having her death on my hands would ruin Joe's life. Then again, she doesn't have anything to offer. I have a better chance in saving The Capital Wasteland than she does. I felt my blue dress and sighed as Joe and Carrie danced next to me. She glared at me, and then looked up at her father, who smiled at her as they held their hands up to their shoulders and danced from side to side.

"I'd never thought I'd be doing this." Carrie told her father without a change in her expression.

"Me too." Joe said to his daughter with a smile.

"I know you're not going to remember this, but I just want to say I'm sorry." Carrie said as her eyes started to water.

"What are you talking about?" Joe asked easily, almost quietly.

"I know I'm not perfect and I know that I've been treating you terribly lately, but it's just because I'm scared. I just want things to go back to normal. I just want to go home." Carrie said to him quietly.

"I'm sorry, dad." She said to him as she ran to him and hugged him, awkwardly ending the dance for him as Joe still held his hands up, confused by the stranger.

He looked around, his eyes darting from place to place as he tried to find out what was going on. But then, he looked down at his daughter, and his eyes settled and soon closed as he held her hair.

"I'm sorry, too." He said as he started to dance again to the slow paced song sung by a recorded guitar, and some woman who sang the song.

I looked at them, as Joe danced with the daughter he never got to have. I looked at his crying daughter, who held onto her father as they slowly danced.

I made my decision, and got up from the chair, walking out of the room and back to the line. I started to walk to the door when a face caught my eye. He had dark skin, and shoulder length black hair tied up into a ponytail, he wore a doctor's coat and looked at me as other men in scrubs looked back at me.

"Ulysses? What are you doing here?" I asked as he blocked me from leaving.

"My name's Doctor Fredrickson, remember? And I think John will tell you why we're here." He pointed behind me to Joe, who stared at me with his mouth open.

"Sit down, Sady. Let's talk." Joe told me as he sat down in a chair.

"Some dance, huh?" Joe asked me as he looked around at the dancing couples.

"We haven't dressed like this in a while, huh?" I asked him, even though John wouldn't know what I was talking about.

"Well working at a factory necessarily doesn't call for high class dances." Joe smiled, and I smiled back until my face turned to him in awe.

"Was that sarcasm?" I asked him.

"Yeah? What else should it be?" Joe asked me.

"A crappy joke." I told him. Joe laughed in response.

"What is this all about?" I asked him as I looked at Ulysses and his men.

"Sady, I'm dying." Joe told me.

"This is supposed to be my last outing until I'm taken to the hospital and put on bed rest." He explained.

"I can't take care of you anymore, so Doctor Fredrickson agreed to take you under his care at the mental hospital." Joe said disappointingly.

"What? No, Joe, I'm fine!" I exclaimed.

"My name isn't Joe." He shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, but Doctor Fredrickson agreed to take care of you." Joe sighed.

"Come on, Sady, let's go." Ulysses said calmly as he held my shoulder.

"Can you just give me a few moments to myself outside?" I asked him. Ulysses didn't seem to like the question.

"Alright. Five minutes. But don't try to run; John wouldn't be able to live with himself if you did." Ulysses warned as he moved his orderlies out of the way.

I got up and walked away to the hallway where people sat on line to go inside. I stopped at a man and a woman online. He had short black hair, and waited for the woman at the desk.

"Chris." I said as I stopped and looked at him.

"Please leave us alone." Chris grunted as he glared into my eyes.

"I thought you were gone." I retorted.

"No, I'm not, but you are. You're crazy, just like that fool Jocelyn was." Chris glared.

"What do you mean 'was'? He's not dead, Chris."

"No one told you?"

"Jocelyn hung himself in his chamber at the asylum last week after murdering an orderly. That could have been me that got killed." Chris shook his head.

"What?" I asked as I shook my head.

"God never rules for the wicked, and suicide will never get him the peace he wanted." Chris snorted.

"He can't be... he can't." I said as my eyes watered.

"I want to see Victoria." I said to him angrily.

"You can't." Chris declared.

"Why not?" I asked as I stomped closer to him.

"Because she made me promise not to bring you into her life again, even after what happened between us." Chris said as he turned away.

"Where is she?" I commanded as I grabbed him by the shirt, and a woman next to him stared at me.

"She wanted me to be happy and this is what I have to do. We broke up, because of you. You made her hate both of us." Chris glared as he moved up on the line, and turned away from me.

I stared at him in devastation as I turned away and kept walking away. I ran outside and started to cry as I looked into the parking lot. I breathed in and out rapidly and didn't care to wipe my tears away.

"What are you doing?" Carrie asked me as she followed me outside.

"Just go back inside. Let me go." I sobbed.

"Why?" She asked me.

"Because I have nothing. My parents are dead to me here, and my parents are dead in reality." I cried.

"Come on, you still have family." Carrie told me as she stood next to me and held my shoulder.

"My family is gone, Carrie, okay? You won, just go back and let me stay here."

"I'm not letting you spend an eternity in an asylum, Sarah."

"Why not? It's where I belong, you're probably not even real, this is just a dream that a crazy person has."

"Just look at this place, Sarah." Carrie said as she turned me around.

"I saw Casey, and she said she was getting married to a doctor." Carrie said, her voice breaking as she realized her failure.

"Jessica's got a boyfriend who loves her and my dad gets to live without the stress of having three nagging children. Out there, I'm a kid and that's kept me from living a good life." Carrie told me.

"I'm happy here, Sarah. And everything you are facing here is a lie. That woman said it herself, this place is lying and trying to get you to stay." Carrie said as she looked into my eyes.

"Don't give it what it wants." Carrie pleaded.

Behind us, we heard footsteps. We turned around and saw the woman staring at us in a white dress that seemed easy to dance in. Her red hair was done up in a pretty bow, and she had a purse going off the side of her arm.

"The time to choose is now." She said.

"Ok." Carrie told the party goer.

"Get a different purse." She told her, not recognizing the woman.

"What?" I asked the woman.

"Sarah, you have been given the option to choose who gets to leave this place. The Abysmal Plane has opened up its secrets, and now and escape is clear to you both." The woman said.

"Choose, Sarah." The woman said as I looked at Carrie.

"Sarah, get out of here." Carrie said. I shook my head at her.

"You can't spend eternity in a cell!" Carrie yelled.

"You know I'm right, Sarah." Carrie said.

"Go. You'll see us again." Carrie said as she turned around to her father, who stared at us with his mouth open.

"What's going on? Who is this?" Joe asked as he turned around to Ulysses and his orderlies.

"She's trying to run, go!" Ulysses yelled at the men as they walked easily towards me.

"Choose." The woman told me.

"I choose..." I looked at Joe and Carrie as Ulysses and his orderlies stepped outside behind him.

"I choose to save myself." I said as I looked down.

"You made the right choice, Sarah." Carrie said as she smiled down at her father, who looked in bewilderment.

"Then so be it." The woman said.

The Abysmal Plane started to crack and wither away in the distance to a bright white light as Carrie looked at me smiled.

"Don't run, please!" Ulysses called after me as his orderlies stuck their arms at me.

Joe turned to them, and looked, confused at them, then back to me as Carrie sat there, frozen.

"Uh, hey." Joe said calmly to the men.

"What are you waiting for? We can't let her leave!" Ulysses shouted to his orderlies.

"Hey, _hey._" Joe called kindly to the orderlies as they grappled my arms forcefully.

The nearest orderly shoved him out of the way as they all made a mad dash at me as the whiteness got closer to me. I backed away in fear, looking around for help from them. The largest orderly stayed in front, and charged at me as fast as he could as I tried to move away.

"Hey, stop hurting her!" Joe shouted at them as he ran at the orderly, his hair and clothes rippling in the wind as he sprinted at me.

"STOP!" Joe yelled as the orderly tackled me, with the parking lot fading away to white as we fell. The impact of my head hitting the wall signaled all the pain I've ever experienced at once.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Reality**

"Sarah? Sarah, come on, breathe!" A voice shouted over gunfire.

I opened my eyes to Joe, who was covered in dirt and blood as his family fired on the Slotters behind him.

"She's awake!" Joe shouted to Ulysses.

"Give her the super-stimpak." He commanded Joe.

"No!" I coughed as blood ran down my face.

Joe started to pick up a stimpak attached to a leather belt and tied it around me.

"Give it to her." I coughed as I turned my head to Carrie.

"Sarah, you're bleeding." Joe told me.

"_Give it to her_!" I wheezed.

Joe walked to Carrie and checked her pulse and wrapped the stimpak's leather belt around her arm and administered her treatment as Joe's family fired on the large amount of Slotters.

"She's breathing again!" Joe shouted to everyone with a smile as Dogmeat barked and pounced on the mutants coming at them.

I breathed heavily and coughed out blood as I lay on my back on the carpeted floor of the hallway. I turned over and vomited. I crawled onto the floor as the Slotters wheezed and roared as they came from the windows. I grabbed my back and pulled out a regular stimpak and injected it into my arm. I then took out another and injected it into the vein in my neck. I breathed out and turned over to the end of the hallway where the secret entrance began. I crawled up to my knees and used the stasis pod's frame to get me to my feet. I looked down the stairs and heard more Slotters coming up the stairs to us.

"They're coming from behind us." I said to everyone.

"I'm almost out of ammo!" Jessica screamed.

"We can't take another wave of these things!" Natalie yelled.

"Find a way to close the door that led us here!" Joe yelled as he treated Carrie.

I limped to the terminal as Ulysses followed me and fired, turning back quickly to check my progress as Dogmeat guarded him. I looked to the left where a fire alarm level was with a note taped to it: "Concentrated radiation. Do not pull on accident."

I looked at it again and squinted, looking at Ulysses for an answer.

"Concentrated radiation?" I asked him.

"That's going to burn through anything. Be careful." He told me.

"_Concentrated radiation?_ How the hell did they get that?" Joe yelled over the gunfire and growls.

"The man here installed them in the fire alarms in case of attacks like these." I said as I got up and walked to the fire alarm.

"Are you insane? There can still be people alive down there!" Jessica yelled.

"We're almost out of ammunition! We can't hold them off!" Joe yelled as he held Carrie's arm, and gave his shotgun to Natalie.

"Sarah, don't do this, we don't know for sure!" Jessica yelled.

"It's the only way we're getting out of this with our lives. The radiation won't reach this floor there aren't any sprinklers above us." Ulysses told us as he looked up at the ceiling, and fired his retractor bow.

"Don't do it!" Jessica yelled.

"Sarah, pull the alarm!" Joe yelled.

I looked at the two people and then turned back to the stairs, where the Slotter's growls got closer. I grinded my teeth and pulled down the fire alarm, setting off a bell and releasing the radiation from the sprinklers below. The lights flickered in the hallway for a second, and then went out completely.

"I can't see! It's like that _other_ dream I had… the one with the _stairs_!" Casey yelled.

Ulysses and I pulled up out Pip-Boys and turned on the lights, and shined them ahead of us to the remaining Slotters. Behind me, I heard faint screams of the Slotters as they burned to death from the lethal radiation raining down on them. Natalie fired Joe's shotgun and cleared out the hallway of the Slotters with several rounds bursting out of the shotgun and hitting against the Slotters, spreading the blood out just like the shotgun did its round. The lights then flickered on, and continued to flicker faintly.

"Is that all of them?" Joe asked as he breathed out.

"Yes, now how is my daughter?" Natalie asked as she bent in close to Carrie. Jessica and Casey looked down at their sister as she bled from her face. Half of the skin on her neck and shoulder were gone, and the blood that came out dried up and hydrated again with her sweat. Ulysses bent down and checked her vitals with his hand.

"You guys should see this, because _I_ am.." Casey said as she looked down the stairs.

Ulysses stayed and checked Carrie as everyone else got up and walked down the stairs. We looked around the floor below us in devastation as we looked through the faint green smoke.

Bodies were burnt, the skin practically falling off of the bone like a ghoul being burned to death. The carpet and walls were burnt off from the radiation in droplets that peeled off wallpaper just as it did skin. Piles of Slotters were on the floor, and we walked down the hall, passing all of them as they stopped abruptly. Ahead were more corpses, burned away from the radiation just like the Slotters, except these were different. Three bodies were huddled in a corner, sitting next to a shotgun. A body with long hair that is now falling off of her head sat curled up next to a skeleton with melted skin, which held closely onto a teddy bear as their bodies were frozen solid in death. I stared around as people's bodies sat all around us. Men, women, and children were all burnt away as they tried to escape the building.

"They were still alive." Joe told us.

"Guys, that one was a kid, I think. Sarah, what the hell did you do? What'd you do?" Jessica gasped from behind me as I turned away and felt my forehead.

"She didn't know!" Joe yelled as she held back his daughter.

"She made us all into murderers!" Jessica screamed as she tried to attack me.

"We had to do it, we didn't have a choice!" Joe yelled.

"She killed innocent people! She had the choice!" Jessica yelled.

I turned around with a blank face and walked past them all, going back up the stairs and stopping at Ulysses, who was still looking at Carrie. My face was frozen, scared like the faces of all the bodies that died.

"It doesn't feel good, does it?" He asked me as I looked at him.

"We all have to make these choices, and we'll always have to bear the consequences, no matter what. They don't yet understand, but it time it will become natural to you, and also to them." Ulysses said as he crouched next to his dog.

Everyone walked back up the stairs, and looked down at Carrie. Jessica's mouth was open as she looked at me and walked up to her sister.

"I suppose you think this is my fault too, don't you?" I asked her as I looked down at Carrie.

"She was in your room when they came. We heard you arguing." Natalie said easily.

"And if she wasn't I would be the one there. What makes you think she didn't want this?" I asked everyone.

"We heard you fighting, Sarah. It didn't seem like she was agreeing to anything." Joe told me and shook his head.

"That was then, and this is now. She chose to get in the way." I said, pointing down at the ground.

"Just forget it, Sarah." Joe mumbled as he felt his daughter's face.

"We need to keep this together. Those Slotters are probably everywhere outside. We need to think about them, not each other." Natalie said a tear in her motherly face.

"Fine." Jessica said.

I sighed and turned back around to Carrie.

"How is she?" Joe asked Ulysses.

"She's breathing, but she's comatose." He told Joe.

"We could have been out of here and on our way. But that bastard Lamb kept us here because he wanted too much from us." Joe grunted as he clenched his fists.

Joe took Ulysses' bow from his holster and walked down the stairs. Ulysses and I looked at each other and turned to the stairs after Joe.

"Where are you going?" Natalie asked.

"Don't ask us, ask him." I said, pointing to the stairs.

"And what do you want _us_ to do?" Natalie asked.

"Stay here and keep Carrie company. Hole yourselves up and stay away from the bathroom." I told them.

Ulysses and I ran down the stairs, running over the bodies of children and families, along with the Slotters. Ulysses looked around the ground as we ran to the door and broke through its rusted and worn away frame. We ran down the pathways, looking around for any more Slotters or Nappers that lurked around. As we ran, we looked towards the Magic Fortress as it was lit up more than usual. As we ran down the path in front of it, we looked at all the Slotters and Nappers climbing the walls to the windows. The lights then went out in the fortress. We stopped and looked up at the grand fortress as it lit up again with dimmer lights. From the sides, small, colorful explosions went off, knocking down the Slotters and Nappers and making them fall to their deaths. The explosions went off from everywhere, and some were even directed in front of the gates. The colorful fireworks got bigger and bigger until a tower blew up, and fell into the main chamber. Ulysses and I started to run again up the stairs as the explosions subsided and all the mutants were wiped off of the fort. We walked up the stairs slowly and looked inside the main chamber where the tower fell. Joe stood there, holding the bow down on General Lamb as he was crushed by rubble that was burning from the ends. Joe was still, holding the bow down at General Lamb as he looked up at him. Next to Joe were two soldiers aiming their rifles at him.

"Wait. Use the Stealth-Boys." Ulysses instructed me.

I pressed a button on my Pip-Boy that activated the stealth boy. It whizzed for a moment, and hindered me invisible. I looked down at my transparent body in awe.

"Let's go." Ulysses whispered.

We crept up the stairs, using our camouflage to our advantages and walking up to the two soldiers. I bent behind a soldier and eyed his pistol holster.

"Drop the weapon!" One of the soldiers said.

Joe didn't look at the men; he only aimed the crossbow at Lamb.

Ulysses and I jumped out to the men and grabbed the pistols from their holsters and aimed them at the men, deactivating our camouflage as Dogmeat followed after his owner, and barked at the men.

"Don't move or we'll put a holes in your heads. And not in a sexual way, either." I told the soldier.

"What are you waiting for? Shoot him!" General Lamb screamed. Dogmeat barked at the man from his yelling.

"I don't think that's going to happen." Cyanide said as he walked in.

"Cyanide! Get him off of me!" General Lamb ordered.

"Sorry, but you're not in charge anymore." Cyanide said.

"You bastard! You'll burn for this!" General Lamb screamed.

"In a few seconds, one of us is going to burn, but I don't think it's me." Cyanide smiled as Joe held his boot on General Lamb's neck.

"I'm in charge around here now, Lamb. You lost sight of our mission and went out of control. It's time for a new order. We're here to live, not act like a higher power." Cyanide said.

"Come with me, boys. We have to pay back our friends here, and get rid of the rest of these mutant bastards." Cyanide instructed the soldiers.

They walked away and followed Cyanide down the stairs and out of the Magic Fortress.

"Joe, come on, you don't need to do this." I told him as he glared down the bow.

His hand shook as he looked down at Lamb.

"You're right." He sighed, putting down the bow.

"I don't need to do anything." Joe said menacingly as he turned away and walked out.

"Wait! Get back here and help me!" General Lamb yelled as we walked away.

"Come back you son of a bitch!" General Lamb shouted as we walked down the stairs.

"Don't leave me here!" He screamed as the fire consumed him, making him scream louder and louder as we left the fort.

"Welcome to the amusement park." Joe sneered as we walked down the path.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Dead Weight**

We walked back to the hotel, walking back up the stairs and facing the reminder of my choices with every footstep. We walked to Carrie's room, where Joe's family surrounded her.

"Here's your bow." Joe grunted as he handed Ulysses his retractor bow.

"How is she?" Joe asked his wife.

"She's still breathing." Natalie answered.

Joe breathed deeply through his nose and sat down on the bed, holding Carrie's limp hand. He then looked up at his daughters, who stared back at their sister.

"You guys should eat." Joe told them.

"We're not hungry. My bird came back and I ate him. Turns out I'm not allergic to birds." Casey said quietly as she stared at Carrie.

We sat in silence for about five seconds until Jessica's stomach growled. Joe looked at his daughter and stroked back her light brown hair.

"Let's eat. She'll be fine." Joe said as he looked down at Jessica.

We pulled out an ironing board and set out food down at it. We then took out chairs and sat them around it. We sat in silence as we ate our food. The only sounds we could hear were that of digesting. Joe looked around the table and saw how low our heads were to the ground as we ate.

"I haven't had a quieter breakfast since-"

"Don't remind me." I interrupted him, remembering the morning after my father died.

Joe nodded and returned to his insta-mash baggie. He poured water from his bottle into it and shook the bag vigorously until steam formed at the top. He then opened up the bag and poured it onto the box and ate the mash off of it. I ate some dandy boy apples and sugar bombs, leaving the rest of the food I didn't want to Joe, who gladly took it and finished it off for me. When we were done, Joe got up and picked up his shotgun.

"Where are you going now, Joe?" Natalie asked.

"The Slotter that got Carrie came from the bathroom, I want to see why it was there." He said.

"I'll come with you." I said as I got up from the ironing board.

"I promised to help clear it out, so I will." Ulysses said as he got up.

"I need to use the bathroom." Jessica said as she got up from the table and followed us.

Joe led us down the hallway to the bathroom door that was broken open.

"It came from the woman's bathroom?" I asked, looking at the pink icon, symbolizing a woman in a dress.

"So?" Joe asked.

"That Slotter that got Carrie was the last person to stay at this place. He was a man." I said.

"Then let's see what he's been up to." Joe said as he slammed his shotgun stock into the already broken door so we could walk through it.

We walked inside and looked around the room. It was rusted, with mold all over the walls, making it hard to see. The only visible thing was a duffle bag in the corner, up against a stall with a broken door. Joe grabbed it and took it outside, throwing it to the floor and unzipping the zipper on the side. He lifted over the flap and revealed a glowing green lights.

"This is his bag." I said to Joe.

"What is this stuff? Plasma?" Joe asked as he lifted up a glowing green cylinder.

"Concentrated radiation grenades, it seems. My Pip-Boy's warning me about the radiation levels. Don't let that thing leak anything." Ulysses said to him.

"This thing's got ammunition inside!" Joe exclaimed as he dumped the white cartridges onto the floor, showing us several different types.

"It's got ammunition for all of us!" Joe exclaimed.

"Let me see this." Ulysses said as he picked up a pistol round, and pushed his dog away from smelling it.

"This man was smart. He infused these rounds with white phosphorus." Ulysses told us.

"White phosphorus? We can't use that stuff!" Jessica cried out from the door frame.

"We don't have any more ammo." I told her.

"Of course you'd want to use it, you heartless prick!" Jessica insulted.

"We don't have a choice, Jessica. We _need _it." Joe told her.

"I'm not using this stuff." Jessica denied.

"You won't have to."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're staying in here until we find a way to fix all this." Joe told her.

"_What? _I'm not staying here!" Jessica threw up her arms.

"You have to stay here with Carrie and keep her safe." Joe said with his eyes closed, as if he already rehearsed it and he was trying to remember his exact wording.

"What makes you think _we_ will be safe?" Jessica retorted.

"Then use the phosphorus rounds if you're unsure." Joe said.

"I can't believe you, dad." Jessica shook her head at her father. She then lumbered out of bathroom and shut the door.

Joe looked down with his eyes closed and sighed. He then picked up a white phosphorus round and held it in front of his face.

"We don't need to do this." Ulysses reminded him.

"We're out of ammo and this will give us the edge we need. What do you think?" I asked Joe.

"I don't know. You saw what stuff like this does to people, do we _really_ need to use these grenades and ammo?" Joe asked back.

"If it means survival, then yes." I said to him.

"Alright, Sarah." Joe said as he took the shotgun round he held and loaded the new shells into the shotgun.

We loaded up our weapons with the white phosphorus rounds and packed the radiation grenades into our bags. We took what we couldn't carry and put it back into the bag and carried it to Carrie's room.

"What's this stuff?" Casey asked.

"If you need ammunition, use this. Only if you need it. I have to go." Joe said as he turned around.

"Why are you always leaving?" Natalie asked.

Joe didn't turn back around, he only held his arm against the door frame and closed his eyes, holding his head on the wall.

"You guys need to stay here." Joe said.

"Where are you going?" Natalie asked.

"I-I don't know. Cyanide is getting us a boat and we'll see if we can find the Brotherhood." Joe said aloud.

"You're just going to leave us here?" Natalie asked angrily.

"I have to." Joe mumbled as he held his head down.

"What's gotten into you?" Natalie asked her husband.

"I'm sorry. _I am_. But we have to do this." Joe whispered.

"No you don't! Just like leaving Megaton, you didn't have to go and endanger yourself!" Natalie yelled.

"I had to do that, just like I have to do this. We're living on borrowed time and we have to do something." Joe said as he turned around, his face saddened.

"I'll be back. I promise." He told his family as he kissed Carrie on the forehead.

Jessica walked to the room and stared at her father angrily. Joe hugged her and walked to Carrie, who was tucked into her bed, her eyes closed and her chest moving up and down slowly.

"I'll be back." He whispered to her as he kissed her on the forehead and moved her hair away from her face.

Joe walked to his pack and rummaged through it until he pulled out a red cloth. He lifted it up and tied it around his forehead, making a knot in the back. He walked out, and Ulysses and I followed him. Joe turned around and looked at me.

"Stay here, Sarah. I'm leaving in five hours." Joe told me.

"You know that's not going to do anything to stop me." I told him confidently.

"Please stay here. I promise I'll be back." Joe told me as he held my shoulders.

"Dad said the same thing." I said to him.

"I know." Joe said, turning away and walking down the hallway with Ulysses.

I stared at them as they left me standing alone in the hallway, looking towards them until they left my sight.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Decisions**

I walked back to Carrie's room, where Natalie cleaned up our food.

"You should get some rest." Natalie told me.

"Yeah, rest just like Carrie is." Jessica growled.

"Jessica, don't say things like that." Natalie said to her daughter.

"I shouldn't say a lot of things, just like Sarah shouldn't do a lot of things." Jessica said back.

"Yeah. I think I'll rest up." I said to Natalie, walking out and back to my room.

As I sat down in my bed, I set my Pip-Boy to wake me up an hour before Joe and Ulysses leave on the boat. I then looked through the Notes section of my Pip-Boy and pulled up the last note that Clarke made. It was dated three weeks after the last one.

"i kent take dis anymoore-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!-drownig mikes more, kant hold them off-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!-Lewie ceime bak, had to kill-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!-downt want tew do dis anymore-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!- anyeyone who finds dis, stay aweiy-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!-come in teh nite, try tew drown me-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!- so much blud-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!- hand hurt, bathrum lock-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!-kant beat tem, i sick-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!-feels nice-ERROR! FILE CORRUPTED!"

I put my Pip-Boy down and laid down in the bed, sighing at the man's fate. I thought to myself, "How long until this happens to us?" This place is too dangerous for us to stay, but leaving is going to make it worse. Joe wanted to leave me behind, thinking that this place was safe. There are mutants everywhere and our protectors can't even focus on fighting the main threat that they fight with each other. My stomach hurt from all that's happened today, and I felt like I was going to vomit, so I went to the bathroom and washed my face of the blood and dirt. I looked at myself in the cracked mirror and tied my black hair up into a loose bun so I could see my wounds. There was a laceration on my forehead, but the stimpaks have started to heal it, and it was turning into a scar. I took my gray shirt off and twisted my chest so I could see the rest of my wounds. There was a giant rip in my back from falling onto the old wooden floor and all of my stimpaks couldn't heal it. I sighed and winced as I looked at the wound, so I put back on my shirt and then walked back to Natalie's room, where she sat on the bed, looking out the window.

"Do you have a sewing kit?" I asked her.

"Of course. You know, knitting always calms my nerves when I'm upset. I'm glad you want to take it up." Natalie smiled.

"Yeah, I am too." I nodded at her as she gave me the sewing needle and thread.

I walked down the hallway, and opened up Jessica's door. She turned around and glared at me.

"What the hell do _you_ want?" Jessica asked me angrily.

"Look, I know you have booze, where is it?" I asked her.

"I'm not getting you drunk on _my _shit!" Jessica yelled.

"I'm not trying to, you idiot. Where's your hardest alcohol?" I asked her.

"I'm not giving you anything, asshole. Get out of here!" Jessica screamed.

"Fine." I said as I turned away and walked out of the room.

I walked into Carrie's room, where she still laid down on her back with her eyes closed. I felt awful seeing her like this, even though she hated me. I realized this was how my father felt when he saw my mother in her coma. I sat next to her on her bed and picked up her bag and searched through it. I pulled out a small bottle of vodka and held it in my hand. I then looked back at Carrie, who lay defenseless in her bed. I sighed and walked back to my bathroom, where I looked at several different reflections of me. I got annoyed by having to twist my spine around for the mirror, shattering it and dropping the pieces onto the counter below. I picked up the largest shard of the mirror and reflected it on me. I took off my shirt again and looked at my wound. I then picked up a water bottle and twisted my torso at the mirror so I could see the wound. I poured the vodka all over the wound, grinding my teeth at the pain it gave me. I then opened up Natalie's sewing kit and threaded the black string into the needle. I held the needle to the wound on my shoulder and dug the needle in, wincing and shutting my eyes at the pain. I breathed rapidly as I sewed up the wound, desperately trying to keep my eyes open to see what I was doing. When I finally finished, I dropped the bloody needle and mirror shard onto the counter top and fell back onto the toilet, trying to hold back a scream and trying to control the pain coursing through my shoulder and back. My fingers flexed in pain and I held up my arms as I tried to not to let out a scream as my mouth opened.

I got up and washed off the needle, putting it back into the kit afterwards. I threw my bloody gray shirt aside and opened up my bag, pulling out a white shirt with small stains and cargo pants, along with the rest of the clothes I took on the trip. I changed into my new outfit and looked at the time on my Pip-Boy. It was seven in the morning and Joe was leaving in three hours. I quickly got into bed, trying not to sleep on my sewn up wound. I looked at the rest of the vodka, and drank it, hoping it would numb the pain as I napped.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Zero**

My Pip-Boy woke me up with a sound and a small jolt of my wrist. I rubbed my eyes after the alarm went off and walked downstairs with my bag on my back, and my pistol in my holster. I walked quickly to the irrigation system, where the water led away from the park. As I walked, the soldiers guarding the place looked at me angrily, shaking their heads or just walking away from me. I was confused by them, but kept walking. A makeshift dock was made from wood and I approached it, hoping Joe and Ulysses weren't on the boat and I could stowaway on it. I squinted as I looked ahead, seeing only the lone dock, and Cyanide directing troops on it. I jogged to him and pulled him around.

"Where's the boat?" I asked him.

"I'm not telling you a thing." Cyanide sneered.

"What the hell's the problem? I got you your new position." I said.

"At what cost? Everyone in that hotel's dead because of you! You didn't save us, you only made things worse, you psycho!" Cyanide yelled.

"Tell me where the boat is." I ordered him.

"Why the hell should I tell you?" He asked me.

I pulled out my pistol and aimed it at his head, making the other soldiers in the area jump and pull out their weapons. I targeted his head in VATS, and held my gun on him

"Because I'm holding a gun, dude. What are you, stupid?" I answered.

"And if you want to lose another leader, you tell me what I need to know!" I shouted to the other soldiers.

"Just put down the weapons." Cyanide told his men reluctantly.

"Your two friends left here three hours ago in the boat I promised. They're long gone now." Cyanide said.

"How?" I asked, not believing what happened.

"They drove the boat through the irrigation system, idiot." Cyanide spat out.

"That's not what I meant. Where are they going?" I commanded, upset at their lie.

"The gas in it would probably get 'em to Louisiana, New Orleans, maybe." Cyanide answered.

"You have to have another boat. Where is it?" I asked him.

"We do, but we're obviously not going to give it to you. You're lucky you got me this position, otherwise you'd be dead already." Cyanide glared.

"Where is it?" I asked again, pulling back the hammer on my pistol.

"It's over there." Cyanide motioned with his head across the water, on the other side of the small river of irradiated water.

"Thanks." I said, pushing back the hammer and lowering my pistol.

"Good riddance. Let's hope whatever's in the water swallows you up." Cyanide grunted as I walked away.

I holstered my pistol and walked to the boat small boat and went inside, slowly rocking it with my footsteps.

"What the hell are you doing here?" A soldier in the boat asked me.

"Kicking you out."

"Captain's orders." I smiled at him.

"Bastard." The soldier mumbled as he left the boat.

I walked to the front of the boat, where a wheel was, and a key was stuck into a hole. I reminded me of John's car, and I knew exactly what to do. I twisted the key, and the engine revved up, sounding like a plopping sound in the back. I then moved a handle upwards and the boat moved down the water, passing all of the soldiers as I traveled down the irradiated water. I pulled up my Pip-Boy's maps, directing myself to Louisiana as I traveled across the browned water.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Swallowed Up**

I drove the boat across the water, staying close the shorelines and looking ahead, hoping I could see Joe and Ulysses' boat. I tried to keep my eyes open as much as I could, but the lack of rest was getting to me. I had to shake my head to wake myself up. I sailed for hours until the sun began to set. As my eyes began to close, I saw a black figure in the distance. My eyes opened up widely and I looked ahead.

The figure got larger as I moved closer to it, and I realized it was a boat. I sped up as much as I could until I was directly behind it. I waved to it until I realized there was a high caliber mounted gun at the back, and Joe was sitting at it, he fired a bullet into the boat and I ducked down, speeding up and going alongside the right of them. I left the wheel and moved to the back, where I held up my hands and looked at Joe.

"Sarah? What the hell are you doing here?!" Joe shouted over both of our engines.

"Making sure you don't make the same mistake my dad did." I told him as I lowered my arms.

"Sarah, you shouldn't have done this." Joe yelled.

"And neither should you. You know you should have stayed with your family, but you didn't. Why?" I asked him.

"Because I don't-"

"We've got another boat coming up to us." Ulysses shouted from the wheel of the boat as Dogmeat barked at the water.

"Maybe they're trying to warn us about the water." I said.

"Well, we can definitely talk ourselves out of this. Especially with this beautiful baby." Joe smiled as he rubbed the mounted machine gun.

"Cut the engines and let them come to us." Joe said to us.

Ulysses and I complied and lowered out boats to a stop. The boat raced to us and stopped next to me. Their engines were still running, but they were stopped next to me. A man left from the part of his boat and approached us. The man was big, wearing overalls and having a puffed up, ugly face covered with boils with a distended stomach.

"What are you doing out here, strangers?" The man asked in a deep southern accent.

"We're just trying to go to New Orleans." I answered.

"Well, pretty lady, why don't you come to my boat and make it a party to celebrate?" The man laughed deeply.

"Flattering as it is, I'll have to decline respectfully."

"I wasn't asking." The man stopped laughing and stared at me, laughing again.

"What about me? I'm pretty sexy!" Joe shouted across the two boats.

Ulysses left the boat's wheel and walked out, staring at the man.

"Funny man. Now come here, girl." The man held out his hand.

"Sarah, stay away from him." Ulysses warned.

"But he seems like a well-rounded individual." I said back to Ulysses sarcastically.

"I said come here." The man commanded.

"Come here, I've got a nice meal for ya' too." The man licked his lips.

"No." I said, backing away.

"I said come here!" The man shouted.

I pulled out my pistol and aimed it at the man, targeting his torso in VATS.

"You done messed up now, outsider." The man grunted.

"What's going on out there, brother?" Another southern man asked.

"I'll have yer' scalp for dinner." The man threatened.

"Sarah get away from him." Ulysses shouted.

I fired a bullet into his chest, and the man flew back, feeling his chest and looking up at me.

"What the hell?" I asked as I fired another bullet, burning through the man's overalls.

"What's that sound?" The man's brother asked.

"What have you done to me?" The wounded man asked in pain.

"What the hell, dude? Die already!" I shouted as I fired three more rounds into his chest.

The last round went through the fabric of his clothing, and drew blood. The man felt his chest and screamed in agony as white smoke came from his chest. He rolled around, screaming in pain as his chest burnt up and revealed his organs. His twists soon slowed to a stop as he sat frozen on a railing, his heart visible to all of us. The man's brother walked out to him and held his body.

"You done killed my brother! I'm gonna tear you up!" The man shouted as he pulled out a thick pistol and fired it into the air, releasing a bright red flare into the sky.

"I'll kill ya, outsiders!" The man shouted as he pulled out a molotov and lit it.

"Sarah get off the boat!" Joe yelled.

The man threw the bottle at the wheel, sending out flames everywhere. I ducked and held my arms up to cover myself from the flames. The man then ran back to the front of his boat quickly. I backed away from the fire to the railing and looked to my left, where Joe, Ulysses, and Dogmeat stood.

"Jump!" Joe yelled.

I ran and jumped off of the railing as the man fired a rifle into the boat. Bullets flew past me as I landed on Ulysses' boat. Ulysses then ran to the wheel and shoved the throttle forward, speeding us away from the flaming boat as it exploded in the water. I looked down and saw Joe on the ground grinding his teeth.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

Joe then flipped over to his stomach and showed me a gunshot wound in his lower body.

"You've got to be shitting me." I sighed.

"What's wrong?" Ulysses asked as he looked back from the wheel.

"I GOT SHOT IN THE ASS!" Joe shouted as he clenched his lower body.

"Did they hit the boys? Please don't tell me they hit the boys..." Joe exhaled.

I looked behind the boat and saw seven other boats racing behind us, firing lever action rifles at the boat.

"Sarah, get on the gun!" Ulysses shouted.

I turned to the mounted gun and held both my hands on the back, pulling back the barrel loader hard. I pressed the two buttons in both my hands and the gun spat out a blizzard of bullets at the boats, making sparks fly off the front of them.

"Oh God. It's just pain. It's just pain everywhere. How'd a bullet even get in there?" Joe whined as he lay on the floor and rolled around.

More boats arrived as I kept firing at the boats, all banding together to fire at us. I ducked every bullet that whizzed past us, keeping both of my hands on the buttons. I twisted and rotated the gun to fire at all the boats coming closer to us, firing into the ugly men and dropping them in a bloody haze and setting their boats' engine ablaze. The boats fired off more flares into the air, signaling over even more boats that fired into us.

"We can't take more hits in this." Ulysses shouted as he turned the boat to evade them.

"There's too many damn boats!" I shouted.

"Remember when we said that gunshots don't hurt as much? We lied, Sarah, THEY STILL FUCKIN' HURT!" Joe shouted as he held his wound.

As I fired the machine gun at the boats, the water started to rumble. Joe stopped rolling around and looked at me and I looked back as the men attacking us stopped, and most of the boats started to run away and go back to the shore. A large roar gave out from the water, making irradiated water splash all over the boat and made Dogmeat howl and bark.

"Watch the water!" Joe shouted as he rolled away from it.

"GODAMMIT… I rolled onto my ass!" Joe whined.

I looked around as most of the boats retreated, leaving only a few still chasing us. The water started to rumble more and more behind the boats chasing us. A large ripple, splashing waves and making them crash onto the boats chasing us. The water shook and shook more until a pink mass emerged from the water. It rose through the water, roaring into the air as it knocked over a boat, and sent them upside down into the water, forcing the men to go flying into the air and barrel into the water. Joe stopped moving and stared at the creature with his mouth open. I dropped my hands from the gun and got a good look at it.

It was a large worm, about ten stories high, with Slotters, Nappers, and deformed men I couldn't even describe pinned to it by bloodied spikes. The worm twisted into the air and splashed down water as it tilted its head down and bellowed into the wind into a screech with its razor sharpened mouth that opened up from the center.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT FUCK DICKS!" Joe screamed.

The worm crashed back into the water and began to race at alarming speeds towards us. The men chasing us fired at the worm with all their might as Ulysses gunned the boat as much as he could. The worm gave off several other smaller figures that were much faster than it, and they spread to the remaining boats.

"Joe, get out your shotgun." I said to him.

Joe responded with a loud, girly scream as he pulled out his shotgun and aimed it at the approaching figures. The figures got close to our boat and clawed onto the railing, pulling onto the boat from the front, back, and sides.

"Slotters!" I shouted.

"Well crap, this is spectacular day for me! I'm glad I got shot in the ass, because this shit is way worse!" Joe shouted as he fired at them while on his stomach, relying on Dogmeat to attack the ones that flanked him.

"Sarah, load these." Ulysses shouted as he threw me a pack of new machine gun rounds. I dropped the original clip and loaded the new rounds into it, and loaded the gun by pulling back the slide. I held my fingers on the buttons and fired at the worm as it rose through the water and crashed through a boat, sending the men twenty feet into the air as their boat snapped like a twig, sending out wood pieces everywhere. The bullets exploded against the worm on impact, only blasting through the bodies pinned to it. It roared and consumed a boat entirely with its pointed, sharp mouth.

"I've got a bullet in my ass, I'm being chased by ignorant breeders, there's a giant worm chasing me, and there's this ugly thing trying to eat my shit. What the fuck happened to us in the last twenty minutes?!" Joe whined as he fired into a Slotter that fell over next to Joe on the boat.

The worm roared as it dove into the water to escape the explosive bullets blew off the bodies on it.

"Dammit, I can't hit it!" I shouted as the bullets hit the water.

"It's 300 hundred feet tall, how can't you shoot it?!" Joe shouted as he fired into a Slotter through a hole in the roof.

"I'm sorry, dickhead, you want to get up and shoot it for me, I thought not!" I argued back to him.

The worm broke through the last boat and started to race towards us at its fastest.

"Ulysses get us out of here!" I shouted as I tried to get the bullets into the monster.

"I'm trying, there isn't a dock anywhere near here." Ulysses said.

"Forget the dock, we're about to be eaten, the bad way!" I yelled as I pushed off a Slotter that tried to grab me from the machine gun into Dogmeat, where he bit the calf of the Slotter, bringing its neck down to Dogmeat's level so he could go in for the kill.

The worm went up behind us and emerged its head, with its mouth already open, showing us it's disgusting, bloody, organ filled mouth full of spikes.

"Hold onto something." Ulysses commanded as he turned the boat hard to the right, throwing off the Slotters climbing the boat, and making the worm turn with us.

Ulysses raced the boat across the water towards the land as the worm got closer to us with its mouth. It raced closer and closer to us, shooting out water from its sides as its wet mouth prepared to eat us.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked Ulysses.

"Getting us out of the water." Ulysses said as he directed the boat to a turned over billboard that ramped its way off of the water.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? I can't handle bumps, they hurt my ass!" Joe argued.

"Hold on." Ulysses ignored.

The worm raced its mouth at us, and it covered the entire back of the boat. I felt the boat jerk up from the ramp as the worm closed its mouth down at the end of the boat. I fired as much as I could, but it didn't even flinch. I felt Joe grab my leg and pull me down to the ground as the worm crushed the back of the boat, consuming the gun and breaking off the wood and metal of the boat. As we flew through the air, the worm moved back towards the water. As Joe lay on the ground, he held up his arm and flipped it off as we crashed through fences, and the worm went out of sight as we fell into the dirt hard, and spun around to a stop in a house's back yard. I panted heavily as Joe still kept his arm on my shirt, shaking his middle finger at the sky as Dogmeat barked and returned to Ulysses.

"Well... that was eventfu-"

"What the hell have you outsiders done to my yard?!" A southern man who looked similar to the ones chasing us asked.

We sat motionless in the half eaten boat, realizing we dug up all of the dirt and spread it everywhere. The boat smoked as the engine cut off and stopped flipping out dirt all over the collapsed fencing.

"Uh..." I tried to find the right wording to explain to the man.

"Oops?" I smiled at him.

"I'm gonna rip your faces off!" The man yelled.

Joe took my pistol from my holster and fired into the man's arm, making him step back and cry out in pain.

"What was that for?" He asked Joe, almost sobbing.

"I hate cannibals." He responded as he fired another shot into his head, and dropped him against the wall of his house.

"Here's your pistol." Joe sighed as he gave me my pistol back, and layed on his side, breathing out.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Louisiana's Purchase**

"Nice shot." Ulysses said as he hopped off of the boat.

"Well, I aim to hurt." Joe said modestly.

"Can you walk?" I asked him.

"Let me try." Joe grunted as he lifted up his knee and grabbed onto my arm for support as he got up.

"What the hell was that all about?" Joe asked as he jumped off of the boat and almost fell back down from the pain.

"Which part? The stupid rapists or the giant worm?" I asked as I walked to Ulysses, who was looking at the man's burning corpse.

"Pick one." Joe said as he brushed his black shirt off.

"The men who attacked us, I've seen their kind when I went to Mississippi." Ulysses said as he crouched down to the dead man.

"Of course you know about them..." Joe sighed as he reloaded his shotgun.

"I call them Neanderthals, and there are a lot more than I thought, and they're all different." Ulysses said as he lifted the dead man's face.

"This man was one of them." Ulysses said as he got up.

"Why did they attack us?" I asked him.

"They're formed from inbreeding and radiation exposure. It makes them territorial." Ulysses responded.

"So they're feral to us." I sighed as I sat down.

"Yes. The radiation makes them angry, but they still have rudimentary abilities humans have, and that's what makes them a threat." Ulysses said.

"Inbred cannibals. Is it really that popular in America?" Joe mumbled as he stretched.

"Shut up, asshole." I told him jokingly.

"The irony hurts the most, Sarah." Joe said sarcastically. as he felt his gunshot wound.

"I was kidding, guys, this hurts more." Joe added.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked, looking at the smoking boat.

"I don't know. We are we even going to go?" Joe asked.

"Nevada." I said.

"Why Nevada?" Joe asked.

"I uh, heard it's got a lot of prewar technology that can help us." I said to him.

"Then Nevada it is." Ulysses said as he got up.

"Alright let's see where we're going." I said as I pulled up my Pip-Boy.

"I think mine's getting buggy. Do the maps work on yours?" I asked Ulysses as he pulled up his Pip-Boy.

"No. Something is jamming the use of it." He said.

"Well great, what are we going to do know? Are we even in New Orleans?" I asked, raising my arms to the muggy scenery.

"Of course you are!" A man called in a strong southern accent.

We turned around to see a man looking over the fence in the yard next to the house. He had a buzz cut and had on a yellow shirt and jeans.

"Welcome to Old Orleans!" The man waved.

"Who are you?" Joe asked.

"I'm Lennie, and you just killed my neighbor!" The man smiled as he nodded his head.

"Are you going to try to eat us, too?" I asked, holding my hands at my hips.

"Only if you make me dinner, first!" Lennie laughed.

"I like this guy." Joe said to us with a single nod.

"Well... Lennie. I'm Sarah Marston and this is Joe and Ulysses." I told him.

"Nice to meet ya'. Why don't you come inside and meet the misses? You guys must be hungry!" Lennie proposed.

"Alright." I said as I walked towards the house.

"We just fought through a horde of cannibals, and now we're going to have dinner with their neighbor?" Ulysses asked Joe and I.

"What the hell kind of question is that? Of course we are." Joe said with a shake of his head as he hobbled towards us.

"I don't agree with your logic." Ulysses sighed.

"Well I don't agree with having lead six inches up my ass, but we all have to digress eventually." Joe said sarcastically as he opened up the door to a dark house lighted barely with oil lamps.

"Hold on a minute, she'll be out soon." Lennie smiled as he ran quickly to a chair and set up a table, smiling gently at Dogmeat, who made himself at home by lying down on the carpet.

"He's too eager. I sense that he's going to betray us." Ulysses said quietly.

"Can't you just go with it? I'm tired and hungry." Joe asked as we walked to him.

The door in the back of the house burst open with a Slotter with burnt off hair and ragged clothes. The Slotter then looked towards us and started to walk slowly, wheezing with every step.

"Ah shit!" Joe yelled as he pulled out his shotgun, and Dogmeat snarled at it.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" Lennie shouted as he ran in front of it.

"Why the hell not?" I asked, aiming my pistol at it.

"Because this is my wife. Everybody, this is Margaret, the wife that's always been sweeter than moonshine." Lennie introduced.

"You could have compared her to literally anything, and it would have been sweeter than moonshine." I told him.

"What the hell did you just say about the wife part?" Joe asked Lennie.

"Margaret, say hello to my new friends." Lennie said as he gently pushed the Slotter towards us.

The Slotter just stood there, staring at us with its mouth open, drooling onto the carpet at our feet.

"She's just shy." Lennie giggled.

"_She's just_ dead." Dr. Joseph M.D. declared.

"No she's not!" Lennie retorted.

"Her face is falling off." Joe pointed at a patch of skin peeling off of her face.

"Hold on." Lennie said as he pulled out a staple gun and stapled the skin back onto her face.

"You know, make-up would have been a good alternative." I said boringly.

"Let's eat, huh?" Lennie asked as he went to the oven and pulled out a tray of iguana bits.

"You got any booze?" Joe asked.

"Oh no, we don't drink alcohol in this house." Lennie declined.

"This place sucks." Joe mumbled to me.

We sat at the rectangle table, leaving Margaret to sit at the end and next to Lennie and Joe, who just stared widely at her as we all ate. Dogmeat was given Ulysses' scraps of food.

"Are we even sure it's a woman?" Joe asked as we stared at the lifeless husk of a person.

"Trust me, she's a woman." Lennie nodded with a pop of his eyebrows.

Joe looked at Lennie confusingly, analyzing his sentence.

"_Wait a minute_…" Joe gasped.

"The sooner we get out of here, the better." Ulysses whispered.

"What's up your ass? Because I've got a bullet in mine, and it hurts, did I ever tell you guys that already?" Joe responded.

"So..." Joe drifted away from his sentence as he looked at Margaret's skin patch dropping down off her face.

"I've got it." Lennie said as he pulled out the staple gun.

"Who else would?" I asked.

"Anyway, do you have any medical supplies I could use to remove a bullet?" Joe asked Lennie.

"Of course! Margaret here is my nurse for whenever I get hurt hunting Nathan." Lennie said to Joe.

"She'll get you fixed right up." Lennie assured as he gently pushed his wife from her chair.

"Who's Nathan?" I asked him.

"_Don't you say that name in this house_." Lennie said quickly.

"Okay." I responded quickly.

"Uh.. okay." Joe said as he got up and was led to a room by Margaret.

"So Lennie, how long have you been here?" I asked him.

"About all my life, actually. Born and raised." Lennie smiled with a fist swinging.

"Do you know the area well?" I asked.

"Of course I do! Go huntin' every day for the food you eat here." Lennie said.

"How do you get away from the Neanderthals?" I asked.

"What? The swampfolk? Aw, they leave me alone most of the time. Sometimes, they just want some food off me, so everyone around here struck up a trade. The swampfolk will protect us if we give 'em food." Lennie told him as he took a bite of his food.

"It's because he's a local." Ulysses told me.

"Shoot, I could have sworn that was a compliment!" Lennie smiled.

"It wasn't." Ulysses denied.

"Well I'll take it that way, it's just how I am. Shoot the breeze, and catch the wind, ya know?" Lennie smiled.

"No." Ulysses denied once again.

"So anyway, can I ask a favor from you?" I asked.

"I'd love to help out a friend!" Lennie exclaimed.

"Just met you five minutes ago..." Ulysses muttered.

"Can you guide us towards Nevada? We've been trying to get there until-"

"A giant worm almost had you for dinner?" He asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"I thought you two would already know your way around these parts. You seem like you know what yer doing with those doohickies on your wrists. And those fire bullets." Lennie said, pointing at our Pip-Boys and shooting out food from his mouth.

"Uh, yeah, thanks." I said, moving away from the chewed up food.

"No problem, but I'm going to need something from you in return." Lennie pointed at me.

"Of course." Ulysses moaned.

"Since this is going to be a big trip, I'd like you to give me one of your special doodads in return." Lennie smiled as he talked with food in his mouth.

"We'll give you some of our tech in return for guiding us. Okay?" I asked.

"You got yerself a deal, partners." Lennie shook my hand, shooting more food from his mouth and onto my arm. I leaned over and wiped it on Ulysses, who then wiped his arm on Dogmeat, who then rolled around on the ground and shook his head around.

The door opened up to Joe, holding his lower body while Margaret stumbled behind him, limping painfully with a wheeze.

"She stared at me for ten minutes, so I just did it myself." Joe announced as he sat down.

"We were just going over our deal with your friends here." Lennie said as he spat food onto Joe's face.

"Godammit, swallow your friggen' food!" Joe yelled.

Lennie agreed and swallowed his food, taking a sip of his water after.

"I'ma go and get my gun, and we'll discuss game plans." Lennie said as he got up from the table.

"So how's your ass?" I asked Joe.

"I never thought someone would ask me that question in my lifetime. And it's fine, thank you for asking." Joe smiled warmly.

"Now that we're done fraternizing with the soon-to-be-father of a Neanderthal, let's get rested up." Ulysses sighed.

"Guys..." Joe whispered.

"What?" I asked.

"Her-her face is falling off again." He whispered, pointing at Margaret's face as she sat blindly at the table with her skin flap down again.

"Just use the staple gun." I whispered, pointing at the staple gun on the table as Lennie clattered pots in another room.

"I don't want to do it, let Lennie do it, he's good at it." Joe whispered back.

"Just do it, you chickenshit!" I whispered angrily.

Joe picked up the staple gun and held it at her face, his hand shaking. He then fired a staple at the skin flap.

"Aw shit, I shot her in the eye." Joe hushed as he looked at the staple stabbed into her eye. Margaret only wheezed in response to it.

"Are you kidding me? How did you mess that up?" I whispered angrily.

"I told you I didn't want to do it!" Joe whispered an argument.

Ulysses spat out his chewed food into a napkin and pushed his plate of food away from him in disgust.

"M-Maybe no one will notice." Joe whispered as he put down the staple gun and ate the rest of his food.

"Alright, I got my gu-" Lennie stared at his wife's eye with an eyebrow raised as he held onto his lever-action rifle. He then stared at Joe, who just ate his food like nothing happened.

"Did you shoot my wife in the eye?" Lennie asked him.

Joe stared at him as he held up a chunk of iguana in his hands.

"Did _you_?" He asked back blankly.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: New Friends**

"Alright then, what we're going to do is cut our way through the tippy top of Texas and pass through New Mexico, Arizona, and then we'll be in Nevada." Lennie explained to us.

"Can we rest up here? We're kind of... tired of running." I asked him.

"Shoot, of course you can! Now we here got a couch and an extra bed for ya'." Lennie said with a smile.

"I call the couch." I said quickly to everyone.

"Ah, dammit." Joe sighed in a whisper, knowing he wasn't fast enough to call it.

"You can set your things down anywhere. This place is always a brahmin farm." Lennie insulted the state of his house, looking over at Margaret angrily as she stared at a wall and drooled on it.

"Well, we'll be going to bed now. Ga'night folks." Lennie said as he sat up and walked away, holding Margaret's arm tenderly.

"Does anybody else think that's weird?" Joe asked as their bedroom door closed.

"Oh, of course." I nodded.

"It's normal for people. When breeding with them, they don't have to worry about personalities... or rejection." Ulysses told us.

"Is that what you do?" Joe joked.

"HA!" Joe laughed.

"Well I guess there's perks to marrying the rare 'zero' on the sexy scale." Joe nodded after composing himself.

"Let's just get some sleep before something else tries to kill us." I said.

"You mean like the person who let us into his house openly and now wants us to sleep in it?" Ulysses asked.

"Well, he fed us iguana, so at least he's not a cannibal." I shrugged.

"That's true." Joe nodded.

"How do _you_ know its iguana?" Ulysses questioned.

"We just know." Joe and I said at the same time.

"I can't argue with that... I'm too tired." Ulysses said as he got up and walked to the bed.

"Thanks for making me sleep with a guy, Sarah." Joe sneered as he got up and walked away.

"I thought it's what you always wanted!" I exclaimed with a smile.

"Funny." Joe announced as he left the room.

I turned to the old couch and dropped my bag next to it, looking down at its ragged exterior. It was flattened down on both cushions and it was the color of a normal couch if it had been dumped in radiation. I slowly moved down to the couch and sat on it, bouncing on it to make sure it wouldn't collapse the minute I move on it. It squeaked like a scared little girl when I moved on it and I knew this creaking sound would get stuck in my ears if I slept long enough. I laid myself down on the couch, and kept my hand on my pistol's holster the entire night.

"Wake up, your parents died." A voice called to me, opening my eyes instantly to Joe, looking into my face and scratching his beard as he bent down to my face.

I punched him in the arm and yawned, getting myself up from the couch.

"I hate you." I sighed as I stretched.

"I told you it works." He told me.

"How'd you sleep?" Joe asked me as I stretched.

"I slept on a couch older than you, how do you think I slept?" I asked him.

"Alright, Sarah the Sourpuss, I can take a hit. Just… not in the ass." Joe nodded as he got up, holding his back as he did so.

"Mornin' sleepin' beauties." Lennie yawned as he walked out next to Margaret.

"Let's get moving." Ulysses said as he checked his sword.

"Don't you want some breakfast first?" Lennie asked.

"Margaret can cook us some Deathclaw fried eggs if you guys want." Lennie said as he walked to the kitchen.

"_Deathclaw?!" _Joe jumped back, looking around.

"Yeah, we've got some Deathclaws or two around here, but they're pretty stupid. One of 'em looked right into my beans and did nothing. Can you believe it?" Lennie smiled.

"Please tell me 'beans' means 'eyes'." Ulysses sighed.

"Of course, you pervert!" Lennie laughed.

"If we have Deathclaws around here, leaving's going to be difficult if they catch wind of us." I said.

"Don't you worry your boobies off now, lady. I can guide you around them." Lennie said as he lifted up a huge egg, the size of his head.

"Now are you sure you don't want some of this?" Lennie grunted as he held it up.

"I'd feel like a wuss if I turned that down." Joe said with a nod.

"That's the spirit!" Lennie giggled as he put it on the stove.

"Margaret." Lennie ordered his wife.

"Cook." He commanded the mutant as he put her in front of the stove.

"So anyway, what are you three runnin' your way to Nevada for?" Lennie asked us as he polished his lever-action rifle with a cloth.

"We're trying to help out some friends." I told him.

"Except Gabe Porter." Joe mumbled as he drank from a water bottle.

"What kind of friends need you geared up for some kind of mission?" Lennie asked.

"We're professionals at this." Joe nodded.

"Ain't we all." Lennie nodded at Joe, making him nod back.

"What's in Nevada that's so important to you three?" Lennie asked calmly.

"We need some kind of tech to help them, and I feel like we'll find it there." I answered.

"Good to have a plan." Lennie sighed as he looked at Margaret at the stove.

"Let's see what's going on over here." Lennie mumbled as he got up from a chair and walked to the kitchen.

"Sorry fellers, but this batch was no good, Margaret burned it on one side. I'll cook up some gecko, since _someone_ _can't do it themselves_!" Lennie glared at Margaret, who moved back and bumped into a wall.

"Gecko?" I asked.

"There's a lot in the south and in the west. They like to stick to dry regions." Ulysses told me.

"Great, this is already turning out to be a huge bitch." Joe sighed.

"It wasn't before?" I asked him.

"I had it under control." Joe told me in an overconfident manner.

"That Neanderthal would have shot you a lot more than just the ass if I weren't here." I said to him.

"Sarah, telling me that you're just a bullet shield isn't helping the fact that you followed us out here." Joe said to me.

"And what would you rather have me do? Have Jessica and Nat blame me for Carrie and yell at me until I blow my brains out?" I asked him angrily.

"Now-now everyone, the gecko's almost ready, I'll go get the pl-"

"At least you would have been safe." Joe interrupted Lennie.

"You're sounding like dad." I told him.

"Son of a—Margaret get your face off the stove!" Lennie yelled in the other room.

"He was smart, Sarah. I wished common sense was passed down to you." Joe sighed.

"I can take care of myself." I told him sternly.

"Yeah? How many living people said that before?" Joe snapped back.

"Stop fighting and eat your breakfast." Ulysses grumbled as Lennie set out the browned plates.

"Boner appetite!" Lennie smiled as he put down the gecko eggs. Ulysses sighed at the joke.

The egg smelled like rotten garbage, and I was hesitant to delve into it with my fork and knife. To please Lennie, I cut open the pale egg and peeled it open. Steam came from within the egg and it was unbearable to smell. Next to me, Joe was already shoving bits into his mouth.

"Nice cooking, Lennie." Joe mumbled as he chewed.

"Thank you very much, it's a recipe I make for Margaret. I'm glad _somebody_ appreciates it." Lennie glared at Margaret as she stood in the kitchen, staring at a refrigerator with a blackened face.

I forked a bit of the inside and held it into my mouth, chewing slowly, even though that would make the flavor more strenuous to handle. As I chewed, I smiled at the taste. It tasted like pork and beans with more spice. I ate down at it silently until my stomach was full.

"Glad ya' liked it. Wattaya say we get goin', huh?" Lennie asked us.

"Smartest idea you've had." Ulysses mumbled as he got up.

"Alright. Let's go." Joe nodded as he got up and grabbed his things.

"Thanks for the food." I nodded at Lennie as I got up from the table.

"No problemo, esse." Lennie smiled as I grabbed my bag and put it on my back.

Everybody came back to the center room and looked at Lennie for what to do.

"_Margaret._" Lennie barked at his wife.

"_Stay_." He ordered at the zombie.

Margaret walked forward after Lennie, and he held her rotting shoulders.

"_Stay_." Lennie said again.

"Let's go." Lennie sighed as he pushed the lever action.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Lands**

Lennie pushed open the door, and gave Margaret a kiss on the cheek quickly before stepping out of the house. He lead us outside and onto the street that was faded away with dust, but still present with its black concrete poking through the road. Vegetation managed to grow through the hard black stone, growing through houses, power lines, and the streets. It was less present here than what I've seen before, but the flora was remarkably different to the eye, as they were more beige, thick, and dry.

"What is it?" Joe asked as Lennie stood on the front porch.

"We're gonna' visit a pal of mine before we start going to Texas. Maybe she can help us out, ya' know?" Lennie asked us.

"From what I've seen, the people you know have more sense than you, and that's not saying anything." Ulysses sighed.

"Why do you got be like that, hoss?" Lennie asked with a warm expression.

"I hate blind ignorance." Ulysses responded.

"Well I'ma open my eyes in just a second, would th-."

"MARGARET! I SAID STAY!" Lennie yelled at his wife as he pulled out a spray bottle and sprayed her in the face.

Margaret hissed as she stepped into the house slowly.

"STAY!" Lennie ordered.

"What was I saying again?" Lennie asked us as if nothing happened.

"Let's just go." Ulysses told him.

We began to walk down the road together for a half-hour until we stopped and looked to a house at the side. A door in one of the houses next to us burst open, with a tall, largely scaled Neanderthal with puffed up hands and face stared angrily at us through its blown up face covered in what I hoped was acne.

"Lennie, who be 'dem outsiders you got on ya' tail?!" He yelled at us.

"Well, you see, Bonnard-"

"Bonnard? That's your name?" Joe giggled.

"There isn't much to a name. In this case, it's different." Ulysses told Joe with a small smile.

"I'ma crush this outsider's face and eat its paste, ya' hear?!" The Neanderthal shouted.

"Come on, that's just disgusting." Lennie told the Neanderthal.

"Yeah, and how are you going to do that with your sister's hand up your ass?" Joe taunted.

"Be careful. This one is called a Tracker, they're smarter than you think." Ulysses told Joe.

Lennie stepped in front of Joe and Bonnard with his arms up in the air, saying "Hey, come on. Why don't we just sit down and-"

"I'll kill the outsider!" Bonnard roared as he ran down his steps to Joe.

"Aw shit." Lennie sighed.

Bonnard tripped on the last stair, slamming his torso into his fence's spike and making him yelp and exhale loudly before going stiff. Lennie turned away from Bonnard and looked angrily at Joe with his arms up.

"Good job, you killed another one of my neighbors!" Lennie yelled.

"W-WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SHIT?!" I shouted.

"Yeah, this guy was _waaaay_ smarter than the rest of them!" Joe looked over at Ulysses.

"What was the point of baiting him, he was gonna' let you go if I sweetened him up!" Lennie exclaimed.

"And that's where we disagree, my friend. If there's one thing I know, words won't solve anything, unless they're coated with bullets, and booze… and women… _naked_ women." Joe smiled with a nod, making me scoff and walk away.

Joe then walked down the road, stopping soon after, and looking back at us.

"Well? Let's keep moving!" Joe called with his arm.

"Sonuvabitch." Lennie moaned as he trotted forward.

We continue down the road after the incident, making sure we watched the houses intensively. As we peered over at the one story house, I noticed the rumble of the house walls, the shutting of the curtains, and the locking of the doors. I squinted at the houses, unsure of why they did that.

"What's wrong with all your neighbors?" I asked Lennie.

"Aw, them? They don't like big groups, I think." He responded casually.

"Or maybe they have faces of a basketball and the stones of a ping pong ball." Joe joked, throwing his hands up at the nearest house in anger, threating them as they locked their doors.

"Or maybe they know something we don't." Ulysses grunted.

"Or maybe your just paranoid Ul.. yoo-lussies?" Joe attempted.

"Ulysses." He corrected Joe.

"So that's your name?" Joe asked him.

"No." Ulysses answered.

"Then why-"

"Hey, we're near my pal's house, so be on your best behaviors, alright?" Lennie interrupted.

"Got it." I said.

"And make sure you don't get blood on her fence, she's kind of... serious about big groups." Lennie told Joe.

"Red's the new white." Joe defended with a smile as he looked at the two story house, and picked up a baseball that was buried in dirt.

Lennie knocked on the door of the house once, and it opened up to a young girl around Lennie's age, with heavy black make up around her eyes and face. She had impeccably straight black hair that was frozen still on the shoulders of her tar black shirt that went down to her pants that were just as devoid of color as her boots. The only thing that she wore that wasn't black was a silver pendant necklace that was in the shape of a thick circle. The girl punched Lennie in the nose and held a single fist at her side as Lennie breathed heavily into his hands.

"Ow! What was that for?" Lennie asked as he felt his nose.

"You never came over for dinner last night." The girl told him.

She glanced over at us for a second and pulled out a black pistol and fire a bullet into Joe's baseball, knocking it out of his hands.

"Why, dammit?!" Joe shouted.

"Who the hell are these guys?" The girl asked.

"Rilee, this is Sarah, Joe and Ulysses... and..." Lennie looked at Dogmeat for a moment as he introduced us.

"Dogmeat." Ulysses said to him, looking down at his dog that was sitting next to him and looking up at him, expecting orders.

"Yeah, Dogmeat. Guys, this is Rilee Tybee." Lennie introduced us nasally as he clenched his nose.

"Why are they here?" She asked as she aimed the gun at Joe.

"Listen, we all know you aren't going to use the gun, so just put it-" Joe's words were interrupted by Rilee, who shot him in the arm and dropped him to the dead grass, were Joe clenched his arm and twisted his face into a pained anger.

"You kinda did it to yourself." I told him as I held my hands up to my shoulders.

"I know." Joe grunted angrily.

"We're just here to ask you if you want to lend us your weapons and help us out of Louisiana." Lennie said, slightly afraid of her.

"Alright." Rilee said as she lowered her pistol and holstered it.

"Really?" Lennie asked.

"Oh... why did I feel like it would be harder to convince her? Oh right, she shot me in the freaking arm!" Joe shouted while he had his face buried in the grass, and directed away from everyone.

"Just like that?" Lennie asked her.

"Yeah, it's the least you could do to make it up to me." Rilee said as she opned her door all the way and walked inside, calling over us.

"You know, this ain't a cakewalk, we're going all the way to Nevada, Rilee. We need the big stuff." Lennie told her as he walked inside.

"Hey." Joe called painfully to me while I walked to the door.

"What?" I asked as I turned around.

"Oh right." I said as I walked to him.

"You already forgot that I'm wounded?" Joe asked me as I grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him up.

"Sorry. It's just that it happens so much." I apologized as I guided him inside.

"Glad to know I've got a partner that cares so much about me." Joe panted as he walked inside.

"And I'm glad to you know you have my back, too." I smiled as I looked around.

"Can we get back to not trusting the girl with the gun?" Ulysses asked us.

"Fine." Joe said as he looked around.

The house was darkened with small candles lit in the corners. The furniture was dark and still, like it hasn't been used in ages. The three of us looked around the dark home as Lennie and Rilee talked in another room.

"If there's a place I'm going to be tied up and shot in, it's here." Joe said as he held his arm.

"Well at least you already thought this scenario through." I sighed sarcastically as I looked at the candles' wax that was pouring down the candle into a puddle.

"Who's the paranoid one now?" Ulysses asked Joe.

"Excuse me that I'm a little mistrusting of the girl who _put a bullet _in my arm." Joe whispered angrily.

"Hey, what are you doing out here? The fun's in the kitchen!" Lennie exclaimed.

"Yeah! The fun..." Joe fake-smiled as he walked to it slowly.

We walked into the kitchen, where Rilee stood up against the refrigerator, and nudged when we walked in.

"Alright, now that you idiots managed to walk forward, I can give you our things." Rilee sighed as she stood next to the fridge, and knocked it over, breaking the floor tiles with the force.

"What the hell was that for?" Joe yelled.

"Shut up and take this." Rilee said as she gave Joe a stimpak.

Rilee pulled open the fridge door up and tossed it lightly over, revealing that the entire fridge was filled to the brim with weaponry ranging from rifles, to pistols and survival gear.

"What did I tell you before about the tied up and shot thing?" Joe asked me.

"Hey now, it's alright. Rilee can be trusted." Lennie told him.

"Why do you have all these guns in your fridge?" Joe asked Rilee.

"Don't _you_ put your guns in there?" Rilee asked him, squinting at him like he asked something ridiculous. Joe stared openly back for a few seconds, stuttering random questions.

"Screw it, I want that pistol." Joe said as he put his arm into the refrigerator.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Cold-Hearted Hot Head**

"Pack light and bring only the essentials. We're going to be walking a lot." Rilee informed us as she took the clip out of her pistol and loaded another bullet into it.

"I was just about to say the same thing." Ulysses said as he picked up a campsite bindle and wrapped it on his back.

"Glad you have even some remote sense. Want a prize?" Rilee asked him angrily.

"No." Ulysses laughed quietly.

"What the hell is this?" I asked as I picked up an extremely light pistol that looked scrapped of parts.

"Custom made pistol made of light carbon stocks and weightless metal frames. The clip weighs the gun down so it can be accurate. In _your_ terms: it's a gun. A gun that shoots." Rilee answered coldly.

"You see, Rilee's a crafter, she spends most of her time making traps and stuff." Lennie informed us.

"Not all of it." She mumbled.

"Right." Lennie nodded.

Rilee lifted up a large and heavy chunk of metal from the fridge and set it out on the table, she then pulled it apart and strapped on the black metal vest and put on several pistol holsters, where she packed in her custom made pistols, she then pulled out a rifle from the fridge and loaded in the long clip.

"What happened to packing light?" Joe asked as he injected himself the stimpak.

"It _sounds_ like your underestimating me." Rilee said to Joe, glaring at him.

"Well I wouldn't say _that_." Joe said as he held up a pistol, and accidentally spilled the bullets inside onto the floor.

"What's-"

"Nine millimeter with full auto capability. It's outdated, but it's functional, definitely not a 12.7 or a 10 millimeter." Rilee quickly answered Joe.

"You know, your 'friends' don't seem to know much about this kind of stuff." Rilee told Lennie.

"Well they know how to fight. I met 'em when they almost got swallowed up by the Kraken." Lennie told her.

"They were probably shitting themselves." Rilee smiled.

"And you were probably too afraid to go in the water, so you set up a house around here, and your relying on your gun crafting and Lennie to keep you sane. Is that right?" I asked her.

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Rilee asked me angrily as she slammed down one of her guns as she glared at me with her black eyes.

"We just met you, and you have no idea who you're talking to, so have some common sense, and some manners." I told her.

Rilee walked to me and threw a punch at my head, knocking me into the counter as I wiped my cheek. She then threw another one with a scream, and I dodged it, and punched her in the jaw.

"Someone stop 'em!" Lennie shouted.

"No… no, it's a catfight." Joe said sadly.

Rilee punched me in the head and front kicked me into the wall, and then slammed my head into afterwards. I pushed her away, and she stumbled over spilled bullets, and slipped right into my fist. I then grabbed her by the arm and elbowed her in the mouth. Rilee walked backwards and wiped her mouth of the blood.

"Get out of my house." She told us.

Lennie's eyes opened widely. "Come on, Rilee-"

"_Get out_." Rilee interrupted Lennie.

I panted and glared at her as I walked over the weapons and bullets and to the door, where Joe, Ulysses, and Lennie followed us.

"Look what you did! She was the only one who knew what they were doing!" Lennie yelled as we walked onto the grass, still sounding calm, given the circumstances.

"Sarah was right to say something. She was doing it to herself." Ulysses said.

"You could of at least calmed it down a bit, Sarah. Now we're out another psychopath." Joe sighed.

"Sorry, Sarah." He said to me afterwards.

"I did what I did. We still have her guns, so let's just keep going, okay?" I shouted.

"Okay?!" I yelled again for confirmation, at the open faced group.

"Okay..." Joe said, keeping his mouth open after.

I walked off of the lawn, and past the fences, waiting for Lennie to jog ahead of me. We stayed silent during our journey, and I thought it was for the best. Hours passed of walking down the street, and soon, we passed out of the suburbs, where the houses got more and more separate from each other.

"I'm getting hungry, can we stop to eat?" Joe asked.

"Got it. Already got my sights on a meal right now." Lennie said as he pointed to a mole rat that was eating something off of the ground.

"Be quiet, now, and follow me. For God's sake don't mess this up." Lennie hushed us as he crouched down.

"You can't spook it, and you can't let it smell you neither, so you got to be quick with it." Lennie told us.

"Just... like... this!" Lennie rushed at the mole rat, and it scurried away, kicking Lennie away as it trotted its fat pink body away.

"Dammit, Nathan!" Lennie shouted as he felt his face.

"It's alright. We'll track him down eventually." I eased him.

"Yeah..." Lennie sighed.

"What's with the name?" I asked him.

"I name all of the animals that get away. I named him Nathan." Lennie told me.

"It's okay, Lennie. We'll gut Nathan soon." I said as I patted him on the back.

"I hope so." Lennie said as he rested his face on his fists while he sat down.

"Let's just get going and rest up when the sun sets." Ulysses told us.

"I'm still hungry, dammit." Joe mumbled.

We continued walking down the roads again, ignoring Joe's stomach as he whined about it. As the sun began to set I looked over at Joe, who was touching his wounded arm with his finger.

"Stop touching that, you're going to stop the healing." I told him quietly.

"The bullet's still in there, what do you want me to do?" Joe asked me as he lifted his arm, and touched the bullet wound.

"Use this. Found it when you there weren't looking." Ulysses said as he unsheathed a bowie knife from the leather straps that held up his plates, and threw it to Joe.

"_This?_" Joe asked as he moved around the seven inch blade in his hand.

"It's either that, or tear it out with your fingers." Ulysses said to him as he looked at the orange sky.

"Just make sure you have a stim-"

"Got it out." Joe grunted as he ripped out the bullet with the knife.

Ulysses quickly turned his head from the sky and to Joe, where his arm was bleeding and covering the knife and his hand with blood.

"Do you have a stimpak?" Ulysses quickly asked.

"Didn't you guys pack any?" Joe asked as he covered up his oozing wound with his bloody hand.

"Sit down against the fence." Ulysses said as he pointed to the fence of a baseball field.

"Why? It's fine, the stimpak I took earlier will do its work." Joe eased.

"A stimpak accelerates cell regrowth for only a few seconds. You opened up a larger wound that the stimpak can't heal, and if we don't plug it up, you're going to lose blood, something we can't afford to lose when we don't have food with us." Ulysses informed as Joe slumped against the cage like fence inside the diamond of the field.

"Uh, guys?" Lennie asked.

"Sarah, give me your pistol." Ulysses instructed me.

I took out one of my pistols that had regular ammunition in it and gave it to Ulysses, and he quickly dropped the clip into his hand, and took out a bullet.

"Come on... I'm fine, guys." Joe sighed.

"Hey we've got some people here." Lennie whispered to us as Dogmeat growled across the field.

"More of your neighbors?" I asked him.

"Naw, they look too mean to be one of my neighbors." Lennie whispered as he pointed across the field to a group of Neanderthals talking to each other.

"So what defines nice to you?" Joe half-heartedly laughed as he dropped his hand from his wound for Ulysses.

"Give me the knife." Ulysses told Joe.

"Careful, it's got Joe juice on it." Joe giggled as he looked at the Neanderthals.

Ulysses held up the bullet in front of him, and then held it in one of the fence's loops while holding the blade against the copper bullet. He then used the knife to rip open the casing of the bullet.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked Ulysses.

"Keep still." Ulysses said as he opened up the bullet and poured the gunpowder over the wound.

"What the hell is that going to do?" Joe asked him.

"Those Neanderthals are going to hear this, so use your Stealth Boy." Ulysses told me.

"You. Your gun is the oldest, come here." Ulysses told Lennie.

"What am I gonna do?" Lennie asked him.

"Hold the end of the barrel against the powder and fire next to it. Your gun is going to give off more sparks because it's older." Ulysses told him.

"Why would he need to do that?" Joe asked uncomfortably.

"On the count of three, fire, and think of something to say to the Neanderthals that come over here." Ulysses told Lennie.

"We use our Stealth Boys then." Ulysses nodded at me.

"Wait, what is he going to do?" Joe asked.

"One." Ulysses counted.

"Wait, is this gunpowder on me?"

"Two."

"Wait-"

"Three."

Lennie fired the lever action rifle next to the wound and ignited the gunpowder on Joe's arm as Ulysses and I activated our Stealth Boys.

"AHHHHRGH GOD YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Joe screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I hate you... I hate you." Joe sobbed as he held his arm.

"Be quiet now, they heard that." Lennie hushed as Ulysses and I crept across the field.

"Hey! What's goin' on around here?" One of the Neanderthal's asked.

"This one's a Brawler. He's good with his fists, and with a club. Don't let him get too close." Ulysses whispered as we walked towards the Neanderthals.

"What the hell 'es goin' on here?" The Brawler asked in an ignorant and some-what high pitched voice.

"Leave me alone, man. I just shot my pa." Lennie cried softly as he looked at Joe, who had his eyes closed.

"Now why you went and do that?" The Brawler asked him as Ulysses and I snuck behind the group, and prepared our weapons.

"He got shot by one of 'em outsiders." Lennie cried.

"Outsiders are here? I'll rip their hearts out!" The Brawler shouted as he lifted up his hands. I heard Ulysses slowly pull out his sword, and grip the handle, making a creaking noise.

"You can't..." Lennie sighed as he bent his head over Joe.

"Why the hell not?" The Brawler asked.

"Because they're already behind you." Lennie said as Ulysses plunged his electric sword through one of the Neanderthals' chest and I executed one with a bullet to the head, and kicked him down to the field. Lennie quickly turned around with his lever action rifle and pumped it, firing a round into a Neanderthal's overalls. The only one left turned around to Ulysses and I, aiming out weapons at him.

"Wait uh minute! I—I got a family to feed!" The Brawler begged.

"Just lemme go, an—" The Brawler's word were cut off from Joe throwing his knife into his skull as he sat slumped against the fence. The Brawler fell to his knees, and crashed onto the floor, kicking up dust to our feet.

"Bullseye." Joe sighed with a great exhale as he felt his arm.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: The Family**

"You okay?" I asked Lennie, who looked at the dead bodies and blinked rapidly.

"Uh, yeah." He answered as he turned to Ulysses.

"Whoa man! Where'd you get that thing?" Lennie asked as he pointed to Ulysses' sword.

"Found it. It's an electric current running through the sword that needs to be charged up every time I use it. Got it as a reward." Ulysses told him.

"What the hell did you do to earn that?" Lennie asked as he pumped his lever action, and put the gun away.

"Liberate Anchorage." Ulysses responded as he put the sword away, and ended the electric current.

"Alaska?" I asked.

"Yes." Ulysses responded as he grabbed Joe's hand and lifted him up.

"How'd you make it to Alaska?" I asked him.

"I didn't. It was a program used to train soldiers. I needed to complete it for the Brotherhood Outcasts in order to open up an armory." Ulysses explained to us.

"Why'd they make _you_ do it?" Joe asked him.

"Because of this." Ulysses answered as he tapped on his Pip-Boy.

"The men and women of one of the smartest factions in DC, baffled by a five pound computer that can do more than they can ever accomplish. It's says something about who we are putting our trust into." Ulysses smiled as he walked back to Lennie.

"Lead the way." Ulysses instructed Lennie.

Lennie took us away from the field and back onto the road full of houses that were clearly occupied, judging from the light coming from inside them. Joe took this as a chance to taunt them, as he danced around with his hurt arm, and smiled at them.

"That's right! That's what you get when you want to eat us!" Joe shouted at them.

One of the doors on the houses slammed open, revealing a house full of Neanderthal's, looking angrily at Joe.

"What did you do to my paw, outsider?!" One of the Neanderthal's shouted.

"Oh shit." Joe sighed.

"PAW!" The Neanderthal shouted as he looked at the baseball field.

"I'm gonna… I'm gonna…" The Neanderthal threatened.

"Well-"

I coughed and interrupted Joe's insult, and shook his head at him.

"I'm greatly sorry for your loss and our sympathies go out to you and your family during this troubled time." Joe quickly told them.

"I also killed your father." He mumbled afterwards.

"Get 'em!" The Neanderthal shouted as he pointed to us with his extremely puffed up finger.

The house burst out Neanderthals and they emptied out onto the lawn, glaring at us as they stood shoulder to shoulder, holding random blunt weapons.

"We're going to run, aren't we?" Joe asked me quietly.

"That's your first good idea you had." I told him.

Joe slowly turned his head back to the Neanderthals, and bowed his head.

"Uh..." Joe exhaled.

"Your face looks like an ass." He said confidently to the biggest Neanderthal, lifting his head up and putting up his middle finger.

We then turned down the street and started sprinting as the Neanderthal's roared and chased us, throwing bottles, bricks, and random debris at us as Lennie ran out in front, running faster than all of us.

"What did I tell you about insulting people?!" I yelled as a piece of wood snapped next to my feet, making me jump.

"We weren't getting out of it anyway, so I might as well have had the last laugh!" Joe shouted as he turned around and shot his pistol into the Neanderthal's, spraying out bullets that didn't faze the larger ones.

"God. Dammit!" Joe shouted as he turned back to running.

I ran after Lennie, who was looking to the left at a mole rat as it ran towards him.

"Nathan?" Lennie asked the mole rat.

The mole rat then ran in front of him and made him fall to the ground, and roll on the pavement.

"Damn you, Nathan! I'LL KILL YOU!" Lennie shook his fist as he got up.

I ran forward until a bottle broke over my back, and made me fall to the ground. I spun to my back and pulled out my pistol, firing at them as I crawled away. I heard footsteps behind me and felt someone lift me to my feet. I turned around to Ulysses, who fired his bow into one of them, and retracted their head into the pavement as the knife pulled back to the bow.

"Keep moving." Ulysses ordered as he fired again, and sent Dogmeat onto the Neanderthals that got too close.

I sprinted forward, and caught up with Joe, who was coughing wildly.

"Come on, old man, keep running." I told him as I pushed him forward.

"Can't breathe..." Joe coughed.

"Breathe when you're dead, outsider!" One of the Neanderthals bellowed behind us.

Joe spat up onto the street and hopped over it, panting quickly and coughing at some times.

"Lennie!" I shouted ahead to the boy.

Lennie didn't respond, he kept running faster than all of us, and turning and jumping a high fence as he had the time.

"Get to the fence." Ulysses shouted as he ran closer to it, and threw his bow over, jumping it effortlessly after.

I approached the fence and jumped towards it, with only my fingertips touching the top. I fell back down the street and looked up at it.

"Shit, I can't reach!" I shouted at Joe.

"Climb on me." He told me as he held out his cupped hands.

"You can't jump it, either!" I yelled above the roars of the approaching Neanderthals.

"Just do it!" Joe coughed.

I put my foot on his hand and he lifted my body up to the fence, showing me a large crater with a crashed vertibird at the center. I lifted my foot to the fence, and turned around to lift up Joe, who was already turned around and facing a charging Neanderthal.

"Ah, shit." Joe sighed as it crashed into him and knocked over the fence, sending us flying into the crater.

I landed hard on my back, and got the wind knocked out of me. I rolled down the hill, choking on nothing as the rest of the Neanderthals approached the fence. Ulysses caught me and backed away into the vertibird with Lennie as he panted, holding his lever action rifle as Joe and the Neanderthal rolled into the crater. The Neanderthals then made it to the fence, and threw more objects at us.

"Shoot!" I coughed and spat at the same time.

"Which ones?" He asked me.

"Joe. Save Joe." I coughed as Ulysses tried to find his bow using Dogmeat as his metal detector.

Lennie fired his rifle at the Neanderthal as it rolled down the hill. Blood popped out of its skin and it flopped away from Joe as it hit the vertibird. An empty whiskey bottle came flying through the air and hit Lennie across the face, breaking on impact and sending glass everywhere as he hit his head against the metal vertibird. I looked to the fence at the Neanderthals, and they all exploded by a long line of bombs set up at their feet. Their body parts soared through the air as bits and pieces splattered all over the fence and rained down atop of us. We covered our eyes from the blast and the disgusting aftermath, and looked back at the blown up fence as Joe coughed and upchucked. A lone person walked over the explosive mess and looked down at us with a grenade rifle in their hand.

"Rilee?" Lennie asked as he held his bleeding head and squinted.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Energy**

"Glad to know you dumbasses can take care of yourselves in a real fight." She scoffed as she walked down the crater in her black armor, grenade rifle, and gas filtration mask on her head.

"What was that, like, five minutes of you crying like babies?" She asked us, glaring at me as she walked to Lennie.

"Take a stimpak, Lennie." Rilee instructed as she threw a stimpak hard at his chest.

"Don't have to tell _me_ twice." Lennie laughed as he injected it into his laceration.

"What about Joe?" I asked her.

"He can take care of himself." Rilee swayed.

"Bitch." Joe coughed hoarsely.

"Come on, Rilee. Help him out." Lennie asked her.

"Fine, Lennie. Let's help these idiots get them killed." Rilee said as he tossed Joe a bag full of stimpaks.

"Idiots? Haven't heard that one before." Joe sighed as he injected the stimpak into his arm.

"So what made you change your mind?" Lennie asked her as she lifted him up.

"I had a hunch that these guys were more stupid than I thought. And then I realized you were traveling with them." Rilee answered as she lifted her gas mask above her head.

"What's with the mask?" I asked her.

"Looks like someone doesn't have common sense." Rilee sighed.

"It's for radiation and thick air types." Ulysses told me.

"Yeah that's it." Rilee said awkwardly.

"Can we use that to get back home?" I asked him.

"No. You need to regularly seal the mask with pure oxygen, and finding and containing it is... difficult." Ulysses told me.

"Now that you are attempting to retain some information, where are we going now?" Rilee asked Lennie.

"A bar." He answered.

"_A bar_? No complaints here." Joe announced on his end.

"They call it a 'club'. I go here all the time. There's a guy in there that can help us get to Nevada faster." Lennie explained.

"How?" I asked.

"You'll see when we get there." Lennie said as he walked up the crater.

"You aren't talking about Logan, are you?" Rilee asked Lennie as she followed after him.

"You got a better idea?" Lennie asked her.

"It just doesn't seem like you, Lennie. Hmm." Rilee smirked and she quickly put on her mask before anyone could see.

Lennie walked further down the street, to a large three story building, giving off muffled thumps from the walls. The building was hooked together by several generators that seemed to be running constantly in the night sky.

"Dogmeat. Stay." Ulysses told his dog at the door. Dogmeat replied with a bark as he sat down next to it.

"Stay together when we're in here." Lennie told us as he pushed open the doors.

Rilee inhaled deeply and fastened the strap on her gas mask as she walked in with us. We were flooded with a dark room full of people and flashing colorful lights. People were dancing next to us as we moved through the thick crowd. On a stage in front of everyone was a man in pants going down his legs and boots was hooked up to an intercom that echoed his words through the building.

"What the hell is he doing?" I shouted to Lennie over the noise.

"He's rapping. It's what he does. He's the richest guy in Louisiana and that's why we're here." Lennie yelled back.

"And he's going to help us?" Joe shouted through the large group of people.

"Let's hope, now." Lennie yelled back as he walked through the people.

"This place is wasting all this electricity for this?" Ulysses asked sadly.

"We're going back stage to meet him when he's done." Lennie shouted at us as he brushed past a man.

"Hey! Watch it, bitch!" A man yelled as he pushed Lennie into a group of people.

"Sorry, man. I'm just tryin' to see someone." Lennie apologized.

"Leave him alone, asshole!" Rilee yelled at him.

"And what are you gonna' do? Get your weird boyfriend to beat me up?" The man asked Lennie angrily as he looked at Rilee.

"I'm, uh, married to someone else, friend. Just calm it down." Lennie told him loudly.

"Get back to your shitty dancing before you get your ass kicked!" Rilee yelled at him.

"Shit, that was fast." Joe shouted to me as Rilee punched the man in the stomach.

"You messin' with my boy? Homies, get off the grenades and help us out!" A man yelled at his friends.

"Shiiiiiit." Joe yelled disappointingly.

Rilee grabbed the man by the shirt and threw him against the lit up bar counter, knocking over drunk people. She then lifted up a bottle and broke it over his head while pushing Lennie away from her.

Logan rapped as Joe was lifted in the air and thrown into a group of people. I ran at the man and jumped towards him, and giving him a double-leg drop kick to his neck. The large man dropped to the floor, knocking him into people and spilling their drinks onto him.

Lennie picked up Rilee from the bleeding man's face and carried her away until he got turned around by the man and punched in the face, knocking him down, and setting Rilee to jump on him again.

I punched the man in the face, and dodged punches by the new people who wanted to fight us. I turned around to a woman with drink all over her. She grabbed me and punched me across the face, knocking me back and making me stumble past Joe, who walked to her.

"I'm the star of this show, bitch!" He shouted as he uppercutted her and send her flying through the flashing-light air above him.

I looked over to my side as Ulysses grabbed my pistol from the holster and pushed me away as he held it into the air and fired, separating the crowd, stopping the music and the fights instantaneously. The entire building was silent except for the beat of the music, and all eyes were on Ulysses. He walked over to Joe, who was in a slap fight with the woman, and pulled him off of her with his arm, and tossed him towards me. He then walked to Rilee, who was punching the large man in the face, and grabbed her by the collar of her necklace and send her flying back into the floor next to Lennie with a smack.

"Have you forgotten why we are all out here?!" Ulysses shouted above the low beat and over the complete silence of the building.

"There are more than 1,000 people in your town alone, and they're all dead, and if you forgot, the same thing is going to happen to us if we don't do anything!" Ulysses yelled, showing more emotion than I've ever seen.

"NONE of you can understand the impact of this situation. We will kill ourselves before we can make it out of the state!"

"Get your emotional baggage that is driving you to fight together and use your energy to get to Nevada!" Ulysses shouted as he glared at Rilee, who was crawling towards the bleeding man and lifted her up, aiming my pistol at her and pulling back the hammer.

"And if your too blindly enraged to understand my words, I'll make it clear to you." Ulysses shouted at Rilee, who was staring at him with her mouth open.

"Get your shit together or we're all going to die!" He barked.

"Shit." Lennie nodded, surprised and impressed by him.

"Who the hell are you?!" Logan shouted at him.

"Just a band of idiots." Ulysses said in response.

Ulysses threw me my pistol, and I holstered it, patting Joe on the back as he panted at the woman. "I think you won that fight, buddy." I told him as I directed him towards Ulysses who parted the crowd as he went backstage.

"I kicked her ass good, didn't I?" Joe asked me.

"That guy's an asshole." Rilee told us.

"Irony. That's cute." I said as I passed her, not looking at her face.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Scratching Backs**

Ulysses burst through the double doors to the backstage area, and Joe and I followed him as Rilee lifted up Lennie. Logan was sitting on a couch, next to two women in exposing dresses that were just as colorful as the lights in the club.

"What is it you people want?" Logan ordered.

"Your help." Ulysses said to him.

"Help? You burst into my club, beat up my customers, and you say you want my help?!" Logan yelled.

"It sounds worse than it actually is." Lennie said innocently as he felt his face.

"That's because it's actually that bad!" Logan shouted as he punched one of the women in the face.

"Th—That's how you vent your anger?" Joe stuttered.

"You have a problem with that?!" Logan screamed as he punched another woman.

I slowly turned my head to Joe as he stared at him.

"Maybe..." Joe looked over at me before he finished his sentence.

"Maybe you can punch... a male?" He suggested painfully, trying not to insult him.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Logan yelled as he punched one of the women again.

"Okay, okay, stop! I'm sorry." Joe told him.

"Good!" Logan screamed as he gave one final blow to the woman as she bled from her nose and rested her head on Logan's shoulder as if nothing happened.

"Dandy." Joe winced, slightly terrified.

"Now before I give you shits anything of mine, you _better _do it for me to pay back the damages to the bar." Logan ordered.

"Anything for you, your majes-" I elbowed Joe before he could finish his sentence.

"We will do our best to help repay the thoughtless damage to your bar, sir." Joe said quickly.

"Good. Now what I need you five to do is collect some...things for me over at the train station. That sound easy?" Logan asked us as he looked at Rilee questionably.

"I'll wait outside guys." Rilee told us as she turned to the door.

"Of course we can handle it. It's a piece of juicy dandy boy apples." Joe said as he rubbed his stomach in pain from being elbowed.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Logan said as he brushed his hands off of blood, and then punched a woman in the face again.

"Why?" Joe whispered without moving his lips or face.

"What was that?" Logan asked us.

"He was saying... uh, why can't we use some of our tech out here? There seems to be a problem with my mapping interface." I asked.

"I set off an EMP so no one can find this place and take my club from me." Logan told me.

"An EMP?" Ulysses asked him.

"What's that?" I asked him.

"He set off an electro-magnetic pulse for no reason." Ulysses grunted.

"Did you not listen to me?!" Logan yelled as he punched the other woman in the face.

"Dude, stop it!" Joe yelled, worried about the condition of the women.

"That's why our maps don't work?" I asked Ulysses.

"Yes." He answered.

"Where'd you even get an EMP?" I asked Logan.

"Found it in that crater at the end of the street, perfectly intact inside that machine." Logan said as he shook his punching hand.

"Good... job..." Joe said hardly in tone.

"No more questions. You have work to do." Logan said as he punched the woman in the forehead.

Joe then forced out a smile, showing teeth, and turned around to the door, exiting with the rest of us back to the loud club that partied even after what had happened.

"Does anybody else realize that's fucked up?" Joe asked us.

"They're probably paid for it." Rilee said as we walked through the crowd.

"Does it matter?" Joe asked.

"Kinda. I wouldn't mind, I'm not a pussy." Rilee answered.

"Let's just keep on going, okay?" Lennie sighed as he looked at the large men and tried to hide.

"What's wrong with _him_?" Joe asked me.

"Just shut up." I said to him as we walked outside.

Lennie sighed and looked around the night sky tiredly as Ulysses pet Dogmeat.

"Let's go, Dogmeat." Ulysses told his dog as he wagged his tail.

"Do you want to rest up?" I asked Lennie.

"He's fine." Rilee glared at me.

"We can't disappoint Logan. He wants it by tomorrow, and that's what we're gonna to do." Lennie said.

"It's eleven at night, we can rest up for a little bit." I shook my head.

"Look at that, sleep is your biggest enemy." Rilee smiled as she took out a canteen and lifted up her mask, drinking it.

"At least she doesn't rely on liquid energy supplements to make a joke." Ulysses grunted.

"Fuck you." Rilee told him as she put her canteen away, and took off her mask, clipping it to her belt.

"You _do_ know that causes people to lash out and have elevated adrenaline levels?" Ulysses asked her.

"Ooh, a bonus. Goodie." Rilee smiled.

"It's quite impressive, actually. You have a lot of talent, but you don't like to show it off." Ulysses smiled.

"What does that mean?" Rilee asked.

"Whatever you want it to." Ulysses said to her.

"Can we stop talking about this?" Lennie asked everyone angrily.

"Sure. Right." Rilee said as she raised an eyebrow at Ulysses, and flipped her hair out from her armor.

"So what are we going to do for food?" Rilee asked.

"Sarah packed the food for us." Joe told her.

"We're out." I told him.

"Nice job telling us, Lassie." Rilee sighed.

"Who the hell's Lassie?" Joe asked with a raise of the eyebrow.

"It's alright, I saw that little bastard's den not too far from here." Lennie pointed to some dead trees and rocks in the distance.

"We're eating at Nathan's tonight." Lennie told us angrily.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: The Game**

Lennie walked slowly out of the street, rubbing his face of the sweat that formed. As we walked, he bent down to the ground level occasionally, and felt up the tracks, changing directions accordingly as we made it towards the group of trees and rocks. As we walked, Lennie tried to move faster than all of us, but left off with a huff and puff while he shuffled his feet in the dust. Joe grabbed his own shoulder and turned himself around as I looked up at the moon above.

"We don't need to be doing this. There are some other things we can do for food." Joe said.

"Yeah, Lennie, like pussy out of a fight in the club, so we can eat your body." Rilee insulted.

"I wasn't afraid of _that_, I-I..." Lennie sighed as his eyes met with Rilee's.

"Let's just go back." I said to them.

"Where? The club? You've seen 'em in there, that guy's already pissed off at us, and if he sees us in there eating his food, he's going to flip." Lennie shoved his arm back to the club.

"Flip what? Another random woman?" Joe asked.

"You guys have no idea what he's capable of." Lennie shook his head.

"Oh yeah? What exactly is he capable of, Lennie?" I asked him.

Lennie looked at me in response for a long moment as his eyes glanced over to the girl with the black hair and mask.

"_What is he capable of_?" I asked angrily.

"Take it easy. Everyone." Ulysses told me as he held out his arm in front of me.

"We're all tired, and it's getting to our heads. If you think hunting down a beast and doing a useless job is going to change that, you're sadly mistaken." Ulysses guided.

"I ain't resting." Lennie grunted as he turned around to the mole rat den and walked off.

"Lennie, come on!" Rilee yelled as she walked after him.

"The man's hungry. Let him eat." Joe eased her with his arm.

"_The man's_ a boy." Rilee scoffed as she pushed away Joe's arm, and walked after him.

Ulysses, Joe, and I stood next to each other as we stared at the two walking away angrily.

"Ten bucks says the dude bites the dust first." Joe mumbled to us.

"Shut up." I whined quietly as I pressed on.

"I don't understand these kids." Joe sighed as he followed after me.

"It's probably because you never liked kids." I said as I looked at my feet.

"I developed that attractive trait over the years, one of the perks of being old, young whippersnapper." Joe said sarcastically, laughing afterwards that broke out into a nasty cough that made Joe spit up onto the dirt.

"Are you getting sick?" I asked him.

Ulysses looked over at Joe and gave him a once-over. "That's probably the case, or it could be because of-"

"Can it, poindexter." Joe interrupted Ulysses as we caught up with Rilee and Lennie.

"It's just over here..." Lennie yawned as he moved some wood out of the way.

"Dogmeat. Stand guard." Ulysses commanded his dog. Dogmeat looked up at his owner and whimpered.

"I'll be right back." He eased his dog.

"Are you sure it's here? Looks a little small to me." I told him.

"That's what they want you to think. About a little ways on, it'll open up to a place we can crouch in, they like close corners, but enough to birth young." Lennie explained as he moved more random rubble out of the way.

"Cover your noses. These things like to sleep on their own p-" Lennie stop talking and moved a piece of rebar out of the way, opening the small place into a large cave that echoed out voices.

"I thought you said they like to keep their dens small." Joe said sullenly.

"They do." Lennie said doubtfully as he inspected the damp walls with his hands.

"This place is huge, they're probably using this for several different families." Lennie guessed.

"Yeah..." I said as I looked up at the high and rocky ceiling.

"There's the sonuvabitch now!" Lennie pointed next to the ledge we were on, where Nathan scurried away.

"Get over here, you! I've finally got you!" Lennie shouted as he chased after it, jumping down small ledges and tumbling off small hunks of rock.

"Lennie, wait up!" Rilee yelled as she followed him.

I sighed, pulling out my weapon and saying, "Dammit", but before I could walk forward, Ulysses, held me back, and held his finger to the air, and looked up.

The ceiling started to shake and dust and rocks started to crumble down, descending onto our head as it thumped periodically, and grew more intense every time.

"Something's coming. Something big." Ulysses told us.

"Shit." Joe whined as he jumped down the rocks.

"GUYS, GET OUT OF THERE!" Joe screamed into the cave as he chased after the boy.

Immediately after, a large roar shattered our ear drums and almost brought the cave down atop of us, and sent me to my knees from the force of the quakes. Next to me, the ledge used for everyone to jump down diminished back to the ground with a long rumble and a big crash. I then looked down the ledge, where Rilee, Joe, and Lennie where, shooting at Nathan as the roars came closer to them. Joe ran to Lennie, and stopped dead in his tracks as the source of the quakes emerged. A large, massively obese, pink mole rat waddled from the depths of the large cave, towering above us by five stories with its sharpened claws and outstretched teeth. Lennie, Joe, and Rilee stared up at the beast with their mouths open as they slowly backed away from it. I went down to my stomach and held onto the ledge, looking down at them.

"GET AWAY FROM IT!" I shouted down to them, cupping my hands around my mouth as the mole rat opened its mouth and roared at them.

The three of them split up as they ran at the rat, making it roar as it tried to stomp and bite everyone, thumping the ground heavily as it did so. The three narrowly evaded the rat and ran past it down the cave and it slammed its massive body around, breaking through the rock in the cave and causing it to go down at its feet, around Joe, Lennie and Rilee as they flanked past it..

"We can't just sit here." I said to Ulysses.

"We don't have to. Over here." Ulysses said as he pointed to our left, where a long ledge stood at the end of a long gap.

"We're going to have to jump it." Ulysses told me as he back away from the gap.

"Let's go." He said as he sprinted forward and jumped the gap, landing barely on the edge with his toes.

"Come on." Ulysses instructed me as he crouched towards me.

"I can't make that jump." I told him uneasily.

"You have to, they need our help." Ulysses said as colossal rat ran down the cave, biting at the ground as it whipped its fat neck through the air.

I stood back and sprinted forward with all my might, jumping from the ledge and throwing my arms forward. I flew downward from the ledge, and smacked my head into rock as Ulysses held onto my arm.

"You're fine." Ulysses said as he pulled me slowly up.

"Really doesn't feel like it." I moaned as I felt my head.

I looked down to the ground that was at least two stories below me in horror as I dangled off the edge, quickly I looked up at Ulysses as he clenched onto my arm. I lifted my second arm onto his and he pulled me up and over the ledge. I panted for a moment, and realized my work wasn't done yet. I got up and sprinted across the ledge, looking down at the three as they ran from the rat.

"What are we supposed to do?" I shouted at Ulysses as he ran next to me.

"Shoot it." He responded.

I pulled out my pistols and fired them both at the mole rat, only making him run faster as the bullets practically phased through him.

"It's not doing anything!" I yelled as I fired at its face.

"What about the radiation grenades?" I asked him.

"You won't be able to throw them that far, and the radius is going to hit the three of them even if you do. We can't afford to use poisonous explosives that we can breathe in." Ulysses responded.

The mole rat roared in a high pitch, screeching my ears as I sprinted alongside it. Down below, several mole rats ran out of hiding, and charged at Rilee, Lennie, and Joe.

"Cover them until I come up with a plan." Ulysses ordered as he looked at it, sprinting as fast as he could.

I aimed my pistols close together in my hands and fired at the smaller mole rats, dropping them on the ground as the three jumped over the corpses. I looked down at Joe, who was falling behind and coughing as the cave started to narrow.

"There's a dead end up ahead!" I echoed in the cave.

"Shit." Joe wheezed faintly below me as he jogged.

"We need to get the explosives up here." Ulysses pointed at Rilee as she shoved a mole rat corpse away from her as it jumped its lifeless body at her.

The three runners reached the end of the cage, and turned around to the monster mole rat as it readied its stance for eating. It swiped its paw at them as Lennie jumped away. Joe clenched onto its paw with his already bloody knife as it picked Rilee and him up into the air and towards its face.

"Give me the explosives you used." Ulysses commanded her from the ledge.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?!" Rilee shouted as she tried to wretch free from its grasp as Joe slipped off the hand and held his knife into the paw with one hand.

"Guys... I know this isn't the time... but my ass stitches just ripped." Joe called out to us painfully.

Rilee tried to move her arms out of the grasp of the mole rat as it brought her and Joe towards its mouth. Her face turned red as the veins in her head and neck popped out, along with her arm. She reached on her armor and pulled off a small pistol, connected to a net of frag grenades. She lifted it up into the air as the mole rat brought her into its mouth, swallowing her whole as she dropped the gun to the ground.

"RILEE!" Lennie shouted as he stared in mortification.

"Lennie, get the gun!" Joe shouted as he climbed on the arm of the mole rat.

Lennie looked off to the side to the explosive gun Rilee crafted and picked it up, looking at it in his hands, and then back to the mole rat with his mouth open.

"I've got to get down there." I told Ulysses.

"Why?" He asked me as the mole rat crashed his arm into the cave.

"He can't do it." I said as I looked off to the side to the wall of jagged rock.

"How do you know?" Ulysses asked me as I gripped my hands onto the rock and started to climb down.

"I just do." I answered as I climbed down.

"Ulysses!" Joe shouted as he desperately held onto the arm of the mole rat.

"Aim your bow above me and shoot!" Joe shouted as he climbed up the arm.

Ulysses unsheathed his bow and fired it into the rock and kept the line there for Joe as I climbed down the rock, slipping off and regaining my balance. I hopped off when I had the chance and started running at Lennie.

"Lennie, shoot it!" Joe shouted at him as the mole rat slammed its head around the cave.

Lennie looked at the rat, and then the gun in his hands as I ran to him and grabbed it from him, and fired the net of grenades with my right arm at the rock above Joe. The cave echoed loudly with the orange blast full of shrapnel as Joe jumped onto the diagonal line of wire and slid down towards Ulysses' gun. The rock then gave out and started to collapse over the rat, breaking the rock that held up the wire and dropped Joe and Ulysses off the ledge, both attached to the bow. They rolled off the fat of the large mole rat as the rock above it crushed and stabbed its head. Joe and Ulysses then fell onto the damp, cave floor, making them crawl away as small rocks fell atop of their damaged bodies. I ran toward Joe and picked him up while he coughed from the dust, and helped him run away as the cave fell over around us. We ran until we reached the end of the cave wall and turned around. I let Joe go and he slumped to the floor, coughing and wheezing as we looked at the dead rat. Lennie still looked sadly at the rat in the now quiet cave, so I walked to him and patted him on the back.

"Lennie-" My words were cut off from a muffled bump in the cave, signaling our senses over to it.

The bump then gave off again, blowing open a hole in the rat's stomach, and setting the bits on fire. Pools of blood poured out, along with the motionless body of Rilee as she slid away from the rat in the stream of blood. In her arm was her grenade rifle, which she used to crutch herself to her feet as she limped over to us, wiping the dripping blood from her face and hair as she held her rifle with one arm.

"Well..." Joe sighed as he stared at her.

"Bon appetite, guys."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Bon Appetite**

"How'd you get out?" Lennie asked as he walked towards her.

"I don't want to talk about it." She answered as she spat blood from her mouth.

"That blood wasn't mine." She coughed in disgust.

"That's refreshing." Joe smiled as he rubbed his hands together, getting up and walking over to the rat.

"Nice kill." I smiled at Joe, giving him a high five.

"Yeah, and it's probably the first time someone's ever killed something like that. Let's add this to the list, huh?" Joe said as he looked up at the felled spikes.

We looked over to Lennie, kicking a smaller mole rat with anger.

He looked over at us with a smile as he held his foot on the chest of the dead mole rat. "Guys, I did it! I got Nathan!" He cheered, out of breath of killing the beast.

"We're not going to be eating him. Let's start cooking up the big guy here." Joe said as he held his hands on his hips.

"You can't eat that." A voice called.

We turned around to see a fat, old, bearded man standing in front of an opened blast door.

"Hey, Joe, it's you in five years." I whispered to him.

"No…" Joe said quietly as he patted his stomach.

"Who the hell are you?" Rilee asked the stranger.

"Name's Zeke, and you can't eat on that thing." He told us.

"Why the hell not?" Joe asked upsettingly.

"That's your first question to ask the old guy in the cave?" I asked Joe. He shrugged in response, turning back to Zeke.

"It's irradiated, if you haven't noticed, so is everyone one of 'em in this place." Zeke said as he lazily lifted up his arm and pointed to the smaller, dead ones.

"How'd you get here?" I asked him.

"I've been here for sixty years because of that thing trappin' me in here." Zeke answered as he pointed to the blast door.

"How have you been here for sixty years if you can't eat anything here?" Ulysses asked.

"Why don't you come inside and I'll show you." He smiled warmly as he turned around.

We turned to each other for a moment, and walked after him as we sheathed our weapons.

"Since you fellas saved my hide, I think I might reward you with a taste of what my life's been like recently." Zeke said as he looked around his bunker.

Shelves and shelves of different types of prewar food were hold up here by the hundreds, and we looked in awe at it.

"Guys, I think I want to be fat now.." Lennie gasped as he looked at the food.

"If you're hungry, why don't I give you this place as a reward, huh?" Zeke smiled.

Joe looked around, expecting his daughter to say something negative. He then realized his family wasn't there, and he sighed.

"Yes." Joe snapped his fingers at the man.

"Take what you wanta', I've had to of had it forty times already. Oh, and there's a shower in the next room if you need it. It's got hot water." Zeke said as Joe ran off towards the food.

"Thanks." Rilee smiled as she walked away to the shower.

We gathered up all the food we could and set it out on the table. From dehydrated ice cream and heated coffee, to microwaveable burgers and dehydrated milk that wasn't from an old brahmin, all of us smiled and laughed as we took things off of the shelves and sat it down. When we were done, we all sat down at the table with Zeke, and started to eat foods we never dreamed were possible.

"Pass the meatloaf, please." I smiled.

"What's that?" Joe asked as he drank his warm, now hydrated milk.

"It's this stuff." Zeke pointed to the steaming food, fresh out of the heater.

"How'd this stuff get so hot?" Rilee asked as she took a bite of the food.

"It's the microwave over there." I pointed to the small box across the room.

"What does it do?" Rilee asked.

"Heats the food in seconds." I said to her.

"How do you know that?" Ulysses asked me.

"You're not the only person who knows a thing or two about the past." I smiled as I forked a piece of his meatloaf and bit into it.

Ulysses smiled back and took a spoonful of mashed potatoes and ate it in front of me. I laughed back as I took a sip of my milk. Unguarded, Lennie came around and forked my corn away from me and ate it, but not before Rilee could take his bacon strips. In the mix, we all started laughing and taking each other's food until we all calmed down and finished.

"This shit ain't funny. Stop taking my food…" Joe ordered seriously.

"How'd you get all this food?" I asked Zeke as he chewed his meat.

"Believe it or not, this place was almost a vault, but before they could make more rooms..."

"Boom." Zeke said with a sound effect that puffed up his chubby cheeks.

"Wow." Joe nodded as he sipped his milk.

"Yep, so this place only has one living quarters with the amount of food in here to sustain a vault for hundreds of years. I guess they needed the important stuff first.

"How did you get a hot shower like that?" Rilee asked him.

"Geothermal energy converters. They're the reason why all vaults are located in caves. It runs on the dampness, basically." Ulysses told her as I ate the rest of my mashed potatoes.

"He's right. It's been working for a while, apparently, and there wasn't a single sight of damage when I first got here." Zeke informed us.

"_Was_?" Joe asked.

"Hey, I'm a big guy, can't you tell? Papa needs to flush!" Zeke laughed.

"I don't want to eat anymore." Ulysses said quickly.

"So... who wants desert?" Zeke asked.

"Let's do it." Joe nodded as he patted my stomach.

"Alright, let me just rehydrate the ice cream and we can finally eat like people did years ago, huh?" Zeke smiled as he took our pickings for dessert.

"How'd you like the meatloaf?" I asked everyone.

"A mole rat couldn't make my stomach happier." Joe smiled as he sat back I his chair.

"It actually had flavor!" Lennie smiled.

"Boy, this was great!" Lennie laughed after.

"I prefer steak." Rilee told us.

"And you ain't even done yet. Try this." Zeke said as he plopped the colorful ice cream into a bowl with a spoon and gave it to him.

Lennie lifted up the spoon and brought the cream into his mouth, making his face light up with glee.

"Someone needs to try this!" Lennie exclaimed.

"What does it taste like?" Rilee asked.

"It's sweet, man!" Lennie smiled as he looked at us.

"Here you all go." Zeke grunted as he handed us our own bowls.

We delved into the bowls and brought the ice cream to our mouths, "mmm"-ing to ourselves immediately after as we ate down at it.

"It's so good!" Rilee smiled as she ate from it.

"It's sweeter than anything I've ever tasted!" Joe declared.

We wolfed down our ice cream, and cleaned ourselves off with napkins.

"So is this how your father ate in the vault every day?" Joe asked me.

"No. This food runs out quickly." Ulysses answered.

"This type of food ran out within the first hundred years of the vault." Ulysses answered as he finished his milk.

"This stuff must be pretty rare, huh?" Joe asked.

"And we're eating it down like high rollers, or special prostitutes!" Rilee smiled as she licked her spoon.

"I think it's more like the first one…" Joe mumbled.

"Oh, crap, I forgot!" Lennie yelled.

"What is it?" Zeke asked him.

"We've got to go and do that job today, man!" Lennie yelled as he got up.

"Shit, I forgot, too." Joe said as he got up.

"Thank you for everything you did, Zeke, we'll see you later." I said as I got up.

"I'm sorry..." Zeke said as he got up from the table and faced me.

"But I can't let you leave." He glared at me.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Bon Voyage**

"What are you talking about, man?" Lennie asked.

"I'm not letting you out of here. Once you're in, you never get out." Zeke told us as he lifted up a sawed off shotgun.

"Don't try it." Zeke said to Ulysses as he tried to unsheathe his bow.

"What do you want with us?" I asked him.

"This is just like Andale all over again." Joe sighed.

"You have been to Andale?" Ulysses asked Joe.

"Quiet." Zeke commanded us with a wave of his shotgun.

"I've been alone for sixty years of my life, and the only people I've gotten a chance to talk to recently are leaving before I can turn around and shake their hands." Zeke said to us with a negative voice.

"You can come with us, you'll never be alone again." I eased him.

"No can do, missy. I'm an old man, and from what I've seen, you're keen to leave your friends to die." Zeke said as he looked at Rilee.

"I'm sorry." Zeke told us.

"Give me your weapons." He told us.

"What?" Rilee asked angrily.

"No way in hell am I-"

"Do it!" Zeke yelled as he rifle butted her in the head.

Rilee glared at him and pulled out her grenade rifle and placed it on the table in front of him. Zeke then went one by one to us, relinquishing out weapons. I threw my pistols onto the table, and Zeke then turned to Joe.

"Drop them." Zeke said again forcefully

Joe snorted and tossed his pistol into the pile, glaring at the old man.

"I _really_ hope I don't turn into you in a few years." Joe grunted at him.

"Shut up and get into the cell." Zeke said as he guided us past his room and through a vault door that only led into a wall. Zeke smacked Lennie on the head as he pushed us into the small pocket.

"Wait!" Rilee shouted as he closed the door on us, and left us in the dark as the door locked on us.

"Who's foot is that?" Joe asked in the darkness.

"I appreciate it, but I'm not in the mood for it." Joe added.

Ulysses and I then turned on our Pip-Boy lights, and illuminated the small pocket of unfinished vault.

"Oh, it was _my _foot." Joe said as he lowered his foot back alongside his.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked.

"He hit me for no damn reason! Racist!" Lennie shouted.

"Uh… never mind." I said with a shake of my head.

"Maybe it's because you ate the most of his ice cream." Joe nodded.

"Now's not the time for jokes, idiot." Rilee said angrily.

"I'm sure it would've been fine five minutes ago." Joe shrugged.

"That's because we weren't trapped in a cave then!" Rilee shouted.

"Everybody calm down. We'll find a way out of this." Ulysses told everyone.

"And how are we supposed to do that? This thing's a metal door." Lennie whispered.

"You don't need to whisper, the doors are mostly sound proof." I told him.

"So how are we supposed to escape?" Lennie asked again.

"With _this_." Joe said as he pulled out his blood stained bowie knife.

"Fatass must have lard blocking his eyes." Joe smiled as he looked at it.

"Great, a knife. What are we supposed to do? Stab our way through the rock until tubbs back there can Hansel and Gretel us?" Rilee questioned.

"What is with all these names? What's a 'Hansel'? Is that a type of soap?" Joe asked her.

"It's nothing." Rilee denied as she turned away from all of us.

"It sounds as if she reads." Ulysses answered as he huddled against the wall and looked down at his bent legs.

"_It's nothing_." Rilee said again.

"We've got time to talk about, from the looks of it." Lennie said as he looked at the door.

"Uh, what's the time?" Lennie whispered.

"Six fourty-three." I told him disappointingly as I looked at my bright Pip-Boy.

"Great." Lennie sighed as he sat down and held his head into his hands and shook slowly.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked.

"We don't win, no matter what we do. If this guy doesn't kill us, we won't be able to do his job, and then he's going to hunt us all down, and that's _if_ this guy doesn't eat us or rape me or if I'm forced to talk to him all the time." Lennie sighed.

"What makes you think you're getting raped first?" Rilee asked him.

"Rilee, come on, don't be dumb." Lennie said glumly.

"We'll get out of here, Lennie." I told him.

"No we won't." Rilee agreed as she faced the wall.

"Way to be the optimist, sunshine." Joe mumbled.

"Look." Rilee pointed into the pocket in the corner, where a skeleton lay in dirty clothes.

"Oh shit!" Joe yelled as he kicked it away.

"Calm down, dude." Rilee sighed as she turned back around and rested her head on her bent knees.

"Anyone have a plan?" I asked.

"No." Rilee grunted.

"Anything in the history of the world that can help us out of this?" Rilee asked Ulysses.

"No." Ulysses chuckled at Rilee.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Rilee asked him angrily.

"Nothing." Ulysses answered with a smile.

"We're stuck in here until we turn into that, what the hell is so funny?!" Rilee yelled as she pointed at the skeleton.

"Calm down, now." Lennie told her sadly, like he didn't even care about what she was saying.

"No, screw you, you've always been sitting there and insulting me ever since I met you!" Rilee shouted as she stood up and faced Ulysses.

"I never insulted you. Only your imagination made it so." Ulysses told her.

"You're whining about insulting people? You're the hypocrite that bags on people just for wanting to stop a fight!" I shouted.

"I need to teach him to man up so he can take care of his family!" Rilee yelled back, glancing at Lennie as he looked at the ground.

"His family? His family's a zombie that can't even talk to him! If you haven't realized, he's still a kid, just like you!" I yelled.

"Every person needs to grow up, Sarah!" Rilee screamed.

"Not like that." I said to her as I sat down.

"Oh? And how do you know what's best for a wuss like him?" Rilee asked me.

"I just do." I said as I looked down at my feet.

The room stayed quiet for a moment until Ulysses lifted his head up.

"Ironic how you talk about his fears when you share the same ones." Ulysses said to Rilee.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rilee asked him angrily.

"Tell me, what's the reason that threw you into a fight at the club, and the reason why you kept your gas mask on while we were inside?" Ulysses asked her.

"Lennie almost got into a fight." Rilee answered.

"And what about the mask?" Ulysses asked.

"What about it?!" Rilee asked angrily.

"Let me reword my question carefully..." Ulysses said as he turned her head and looked at her.

"Why are you afraid of people?"

"I'm not." Rilee answered sternly.

"You know about culture from a hundred years ago, and the reason why you're so angry is because you shelter yourself from people, and if they get too close, you get hostile." Ulysses explained her traits.

"Is that right?" He asked.

"Fuck you, asshole, you don't know me." Rilee pointed at him.

"I'm sure _he_ does, since he's your only friend." Ulysses nodded at Lennie.

"He's not my friend, he-"

"Is the person you are willing to teach and protect from danger?" Ulysses interrupted her.

"Face it, you're not as good at bottling up emotions as you think you are." Ulysses smiled.

"And _that's_ why I was smiling." Ulysses told her as he sat his head down.

Rilee sighed and turned away from him, sitting down next to the skeleton and sighing.

"Everyone's a psychologist..." Rilee mumbled.

"Look, you want to know why I act the way I do, fine." Rilee said as she turned around.

Joe looked over at Rilee, his face not liking the idea of a story. "Well-"

"Quiet, butthole." Rilee pointed her finger at Joe.

"The reason why I'm wearing that mask and starting fights in the club is because I used to work for Logan, although I didn't quit, necessarily. I've been hiding out, alright?" Rilee told us as she felt her silver necklace.

"It turns out _you're_ not as good as figuring people out." Rilee glared at Ulysses.

"Well I _know _that that necklace doesn't belong to you." Ulysses responded.

"Tueri parva Angelum. 'Protect the little angel.'". Ulysses read.

"Well… you're right about that. It was my brother's. And stop prying, dammit! We have work to do!"

"How do you know that? What is it, Spanish? Latin?" Joe asked him.

"Latin." Ulysses responded.

"How do you know how to read Latin?" I asked him.

"I like to read." He responded.

"So that just leaves Lennie." Ulysses said, looking at him.

"You know about this deal with Logan, don't you?" Ulysses asked him.

"Rilee told me, she said they've been looking for her outside of Louisiana, that's why she's staying pretty close by, and not leaving her house… I think." Lennie told him.

"Not many people like it when you leave them." Lennie said as he put his head down.

"That explains about everything." Joe nodded.

"Fuck you, asshole! You don't know shit about us!" Rilee yelled at Joe.

"I'm sorry, honey, but you're not the only one with a sob story. Almost everyone in the wasteland has one, remember that the next time you kill someone." Joe said.

"No one can understand me." Rilee said angrily.

"Really?" I asked her like she was a child.

"You go ahead and keep thinking that, remember this little conversation when you go home and realize there was nothing tying you down from doing this in the first place." Joe told her, his face telling me he was slightly annoyed.

"We've all realized that, that's why we're all in this room today." He added.

"Strange how stuff works out for us, doesn't it?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"And you're right, Lennie, people don't like it when others leave. That's why Joe's here, that's why Ulysses isn't a vault, and it's why I'm not dead." I told him.

"We all have our reasons for being out here and it doesn't make us bad people." Ulysses told us.

"Like I said, get it together and focus on what's happening right now." Ulysses told us.

"Like lying to me?" Lennie asked.

"You said your friends needed help, not that you're on a mission that is supposed to save the entire planet. I don't want to go and do this, I'm not cut out for saving lives the way you are." Lennie told him.

"I can't do this kind of stuff, I hunt because I'm hungry, not because the fate of the world relies on me. _I'm a hunter,_ I'm not like you guys, I don't take a dead body sitting on the ground lightly." Lennie told him, the stress visible on his face.

"None of us asked to be where we are now, we all did it because we need to do it for our own reasons." I told him.

"Is that why all those people in the hotel had to die?" Joe asked me.

"Yes. You should understand more than anyone what was at stake, you agreed to let me do it, don't forget that. Deep down you made the choice that I did." I told him angrily, like he stabbed me in the back.

"We all have to make decisions, and it will define what others see you as, but it doesn't define _you_. It's our intentions that make us who we are." Ulysses told everyone, looking at me.

"Now that we all had our little chat, how are we supposed to get out of here so we can actually do something?" Joe asked.

"I don't know." I sighed.

"Neither did this guy." Rilee said as she looked at the skeleton.

"Wait a minute, let me see." I said to her.

"The dead guy?" She asked me disgustedly.

"No, she wants to see you. She just wants to braid your hair." Joe said sarcastically.

"What did I say about being quiet?" Rilee asked him angrily.

Rilee lifted up the skeleton and handed it off to me for inspection.

"Let's see if he left us anything to help us out." I said as I checked his pockets.

"Aha." I said as I lifted out a white letter.

I opened it up, and it read,

"To my sister Bianca and my brother Lucius,

I don't know if I'll ever see you again, so I'm writing this now before it's over. I was exploring in the caves with Ezekiel and his team when we were cut off from the rest of the group by a massive, irradiated mole rat. In the midst of the battle, Ezekiel and I hid in this bunker of some kind, stuffed with food and drink, but it locked us inside afterwards. Ezekiel knew the tech, vault-issued he said it was, so I left him to the control panel on the door while we lived in here. For a time, we gorged ourselves with food while Ezekiel made sure that the rat was blocking off our pathway with the camera on the door. He said the rat set up his home right in front of us, and there was no way around it, he lied. He started to change, eating more and keeping most of the food away from me. Then one day he snapped, and threw me into this pit I'm in now. What he didn't know was that I kept a derringer in my boot, and I could shoot my way out, I thought. I threatened him with it through the door and he laughed. He knew I had the derringer on me, he says it was a joke that he pulled to give me some hope. Then he came in and beat me until I was on the brink of death, and left me in here again. All my hope of seeing you guys again was lost right here, and since then, I tried to end my suffering without angering our Lord. I've been waiting, nothing would make me more happy than to use the pistol and end my life, but I know that I would suffer for eternity afterward. I'm just so hungry, Goodbye, I love you both."

"So? What does it say?" Rilee asked me afterwards.

"He chose to kill himself than try to escape." I told them.

"Great, now what?" Joe asked.

"Wait." I said as I set down the skeleton and broke open it's ribcage.

"What are you doing?" Rilee asked me.

"He said he never wanted to use his gun to kill himself, he also said that he ate as much as Zeke. Since Derringer's are made of iron..." I stopped talking for a moment and ripped my hand out of the skeleton's stomach, revealing a small, derringer pistol.

"He ate his gun. How the hell did he even swallow that?" Joe asked as we looked at it.

"No idea, but he swallowed it." I said as I lifted it up.

"So how does this help us out of this thick metal door?" Joe asked me.

"I've got an idea." Rilee said.

"What?" Lennie asked.

"You said the doors were mostly soundproof, right?" She asked me.

"There's a chance he can hear it through the rocks." I said to her.

"Good." She nodded. As she picked up her gas mask and removed one of the oxygen disks.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Releasing the oxygen from this makes a loud noise, like a gunshot. If he hears it, he'll come inside, and that's when he'll find me dead in the corner." Rilee explained

"How do you know this is going to work?" I asked her.

"It's alright, I've seen it in the movies." She told me as she grabbed her oxygen disk.

"You've seen this scenario in a movie before? Shit, I thought this was a first." Joe shook his head.

"Cover your ears." She said just as the disk popped open, echoing the blasting sound in the tiny room.

"Good luck. And don't get me killed for real." Rilee said as she hunched in the corner.

"One more thing, Joe. He knows you have a knife." I told him.

"It's okay, I'll set him off to sleep with a blood nap and a warm cup of his own piss… or _shit_. Man, I need to give this more thought." Joe scratched his head.

The door quickly unlocked and opened, showing Zeke aiming his shotgun at us.

"What the hell was that?" Zeke asked us.

"Nothing Papa Pistol, maybe you're just going senile." Joe said sarcastically.

"What are you talking about? You're just as old as me!" Zeke pointed to Joe.

"Well now I don't even want to talk to you." Joe said disappointingly.

"What's wrong with her?" Zeke asked, motioning to Rilee.

"Nothing's wrong. She's just a heavy sleeper." Joe said to him.

"Bullshit, I left you your knife, and I heard your arguing! Don't play stupid!" Zeke yelled at him.

"Really? Cause I just thought you were having another heart attack at the time, you fat old bitch." Joe smiled sarcastically.

Zeke kicked Joe in the face and dropped his coughing, weakened body atop of Ulysses, where Zeke picked him up and dragged him away.

"OW! I meant that in a good way! You're fat like a hibernating a bear in the winter or something!" Joe yelled in pain as he held his face.

"You're coming with me." Zeke said to him as he dragged him away.

"I don't think so, Pillsbury." Rilee waved as Joe elbowed him in the face, and ran to the door as it closed down.

I dove forward and slid through the crack of the door as it landed in front of everyone else, locking into place. Zeke grabbed Joe by the back of his collar and swung back around into the barrel of his shotgun, and aimed it down on him. I aimed my derringer at him and pulled back the hammer.

"Stop!" I yelled at him, making Zeke look up at the gun.

"Looks like we're at a standoff." Zeke said to me.

"Not quite, asshole. I'm gonna' punch you right in your diabetes!" Joe shouted as he pulled out his knife and punched him in the stomach.

Ezekiel kicked the blade out of Joe's hand, making it fly towards me, forcing me to evade. Ezekiel then aimed his shotgun at me, just as Joe punched him in the groin, making him cough and bend forward. I ran at Zeke and tackled him to the ground, and punched him in the face, and when his arms grabbed my neck, I head butted him off of me. I pulled away the shotgun and aimed the two weapons at his face, panting.

"Go get them out." I told Joe.

As Joe turned to the door played with the console, Zeke looked at me as tears ran down his face.

"I had a wife and kids before I was in here. I told if I never came back to find someone else. I don't have anyone else left." Zeke cried.

"Wh… I don't give a shit! You just locked us in a room!" I yelled.

"Just let him go, Sarah." Joe told me as he left the room.

"Let him go? This guy almost killed us and you want us to let him go?" Rilee asked him angrily.

"He's defenseless and old, coincidentally the opposite of me." Joe pointed out.

"Let her decide." Ulysses told them as he and Lennie walked outside, and nodded at each other with their acceptance.

"Please..." Zeke sobbed.

My hands shook as I aimed them both at his head, and soon, I started to squeeze the triggers.

"I don't want to see you ever again." I told him as I lowered my weapons, and released the triggers, getting up from him.

"You won't. I promise. I'll—I'll stay down here." Zeke said to me with a stutter.

"I don't care what you do." I said as I picked up my weapons from the table, and holstered them.

"If I see your face again, I'm going to kill you." I told him as I walked away, not turning around to maintain eye contact.

"No one compare me to this guy anymore!" Joe yelled to the group as we walked away from Zeke.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Repercussions**

"What made you choose?" Joe asked me.

"I just chose."

Behind us, we heard a loud bashing noise, so Joe and I turned around to see Rilee shooting the console of the door, closing and locking the door as sparks flew out from the console.

"What the hell have you done?!" Joe shouted.

"You really think that guy's going to change after this? He'd hunt us down, guys like that are relentless." Rilee argued.

"Why would you do that, he said he'd stay in there!" I yelled.

"Good for us, then! Now we know for sure that would be the case! And besides, he has the food supply with him, so he-" Rilee stopped talking and realized what she said to us.

"All the food is gone now. Now we can't come back here!" I yelled.

"Not entirely." Ulysses said as he pulled out a bag of insta-mash and water.

"We could have given this away, or even use it for ourselves. Have you even thought about what you've done?!" I yelled.

"No." She said as she walked away.

"What's done is done, alright? Let's just hurry up and do that job if we still can." Lennie said to us.

"What's the time, Sarah?" Joe sighed angrily.

"It's 11:30." I told everyone.

"If we ever find a way out of this cave, it's going to take a miracle to make it to the train station." Lennie sighed.

"One miracle coming right up." Rilee said as she pulled out her grenade rifle.

"What are you planning to do with that?" Ulysses asked her.

"Go back the way we came." Rilee said as she aimed it at the giant mole rat.

"The rocks leading up to the entrance are gone if you have forgotten that it smashed them out of the way." Ulysses told her.

"Then let's just make the entrance go down to us." Rilee said.

"You're going to risk a cave-in for that?" Ulysses asked her.

"Yep." She said to him, burping inside her mouth afterward.

"No. You're not making any more bad decisions." Joe told her as he lowered her gun for her.

"There isn't a way out of here without it." Lennie said to him.

"Do what you people please, I'm just here to remind you of what would happen if you decide something." Ulysses said as he folded his arms up.

Everyone then looked at me simultaneously.

"I've got to decide, right?" I nodded angrily like I got the short end of the stick.

"What should we do?" Joe asked me.

"I don't see another way out of here, so we'll have to try blasting ourselves out, then." I announced.

"Good on ya'." Rilee smiled as she fired a grenade into the mole rat, blasting through the already made hole in the stomach and giving us an exit through its stomach.

"Let's go." She told us as she started walking.

"Through...there?" Joe asked, looking at the carcass.

"No. Just sit there with your hand up your ass until you die out." Rilee said angrily as she stepped into the blood.

"Ah, dammit." Joe sighed as he stepped into the pool of blood cautiously.

We walked through the bloody and broken bones of the rat quickly so we wouldn't get covered in blood, we then jogged through the rest of the cave, weary of any other mole rats that could come out and attack us. Eventually we made it to the beginning of the cave, and looked up at the entrance that we made.

"Alright, here goes nothing." Rilee said as she reloaded her grenade rifle and fired it just below the entrance.

The grenade burst into a large explosion, shaking the entire cave and collapsing rock nearby us. As Rilee kept firing, we looked around the cave quickly, silently rushing her to get us out of here. As small rocks fell, Ulysses looked up at the cave instinctively.

"The cave is collapsing. We need to leave now." Ulysses told us as the rock began to break apart in larger formations.

"Almost done, just one more." Rilee said as she reloaded the rifle, looking at the more open exit of the cave.

Off to Joe's side, a large jagged rock fell and broke apart, splattering rock all over us, making us cover our faces from the shards.

"Rilee hurry up!" I shouted at her.

"Shut up and stop rushing me!" She shouted back as she launched another grenade.

The rocks around the entrance collapsed at our feet, revealing some dirt incline to us.

"Start climbing." Ulysses shouted through the smashing rocks as we ran to the dirt hill and started climbing up it with our hands and feet as stone fell around us.

Above us, the sky became visible from the amount of rocks falling into the cave, making the inside shake and boom as we climbed up at the steep hill. I wretched my hands onto the dirt and kicked myself up the hill as I felt the tap of rocks falling onto my head. I looked up to the exit, where the sun shined at us, and a large batch of rocks fell, hitting against Lennie's head, and dropping him down the hill. I grabbed onto Lennie's arm with my left hand as my right one clenched the dirt of the surface. I looked down, grinding my teeth at Lennie's bleeding, concussed head as he looked weakly down the hill.

"Come on, Lennie! Pull yourself up!" I yelled as my hands and feet slowly dragged down the dirt back into the cave.

As my hands and feet scraped against the dirt, I closed my eyes and tried to drag myself up the hill desperately trying to get a hold on something static. As my arms and legs started to shake, my hands sweated up and I began to lose my grip on Lennie, and looked at him as his eyes closed.

"Lennie, come on!" I yelled as my grip on the dirt slipped for a moment.

"Sarah!" Joe yelled above me as the rock crashed down at my sides.

"Move." Ulysses said as he moved Joe out of the way and aimed his bow at me, and fired.

I closed my eyes for a moment, and opened them as I heard the impact of the shot. The knife landed next to me in the dirt, and settled on my shoulder. I looked down at Lennie and tried to pull him up to me as my leg gave out from a rock landing on it. I used all of my strength to pull him up to me, making me lose my last leg to a chuck of rock landing on it. As I started to slide down, I grabbed the knife and wrapped it around Lennie as Ulysses yanked him up. I flipped off of the dirt hill and rolled back into the cave as large chunks of rocks fell next to me.

"Sarah! Grab the knife!" Joe shouted to me as I lay on the shaking cave floor.

Ulysses fired his bow again as Joe and Rilee pulled Lennie in and it landed next to me, just as a rock landed on the wire and forced it to retract back to Ulysses again. As the quakes grew louder, I crawled on the ground and grabbed the knife with my hand, stabbing myself as Ulysses retracted it, flinging my body through rock as I flew up to his bow. The knife popped out of my hand, making me scream in pain as Joe pulled me away from the cave, and dragged me away as the dirt hill was blanketed in rock. Ulysses called over Dogmeat as we coughed and ran from the cave on, falling onto the dusty grass as the cave withered away behind us. Joe grunted and wheezed as he put me on the ground and fell down onto the dirt as we watched the cave collapse in front of us.

"And that's why I remind you of choosing things." Ulysses told me as we coughed and panted at the sight of the cave.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: Beautiful Sleep**

"Lennie?" Rilee asked him as she shook his unconscious face.

"Give him a stimpak and water." Ulysses said as he got up from the ground.

"You alright, Sarah? Almost lost you back there." Joe wheezed.

"Well I've got a hole the size of a fist in my goddamn palm, so I'd say I'm doing swell." I complained as I held my hand.

"Here." Joe said as he tossed me a stimpak from Rilee's bag.

I injected the stimpak into my hand as Rilee dumped the bottle of water onto Lennie making him cough up dust and water.

"We need to go." Lennie coughed as he spotted the moon above us.

"You need rest, your lungs and head could be seriously injured." Ulysses told him.

"I'm fine, we've gotta get to the train yard." Lennie told us as he got up from the ground.

"Kid, just listen to him." Joe told him with a hearty exhale.

"I told you I'm fine. And if you guys don't want to go and do this, fine, I'm going by myself." Lennie shook his head as he started walking away.

"Hey!" Joe called after him as he turned him around.

"What is it? I'm fine, why are you making me rest?" Lennie asked him.

"Is it because I'm not a 'big adult' like you guys?" Lennie asked us with a glare.

"Listen," Joe eased him. "A long time ago, when Sarah's father was chasing a deranged raider, I gave him a team of-."

"I don't wanna listen to another goddamn story!" Lennie interrupted.

"Fine." Joe said, somewhat saddened by it.

"Let me just skip ahead to what I was going to say at the end… uh… now, no one knows his name… and no one knows anybody on that journey's name, not even Sarah's father." Joe said, looking at me, and turning back to Lennie with a nod.

"We need to stay together, and not care about what other people might think, otherwise you might end up with a bullet in your ass like me." Joe smiled.

"I-I don't what the hell you're trying to tell me." Lennie stuttered angrily.

"Should've let me tell you the story then, dick."

"He's right, Lennie… about something." I told him. "Every time I went out here, I'd had help from friends or just gotten lucky in some way. I wouldn't be here if I had run off without them."

"Alright. What is it you want from me?" Lennie asked us.

"Sit down and rest with us." Joe told him.

"Fine, but this is on you guys if something happens." Lennie nodded as he walked back to us.

Ulysses took off his bindle and set out the camp set for us while Lennie helped make the fire to cook the food. We set out bedrolls for everyone and slept after our meals. As I lay on my back, I left the prickly sensation of my stitches, and got up, walking away from the fire and taking my shirt off. I turned over to Dogmeat, who got up from his sleep and looked at me, making me think my cover was blown. It changed when Dogmeat's tail wagged, and he lowered his head back onto the ground. I smiled as I snuck to Joe and grabbed his knife using my stealth boy, twirling it in my hand as I sat back down and turned my head to the stitches, deactivating the stealth boy. I held the knife of the stitches and tried to rip them off with the blade, sighing angrily when I couldn't reach them, or when my neck and back hurt from twisting them.

"Here, I got it." Joe said calmly as he sat down behind me.

"What are you doing up?" I asked him just as calm as him.

"I keep telling you, you suck at sneaking around." Joe chuckled quietly, as not to wake anyone else.

"How are you?" He asked as he took out my stitches.

"Well you're taking out my stitches in the middle of Louisiana, so, there's that." I answered.

"I meant overall."

"Awful." I answered.

"How are we supposed to get rid of that gas? We're just three people and two kids in it for a dumb reward." I said to him.

"What _about_ the kids?" Joe asked me.

"That's just it. They're kids, Joe. They're not cut out for this sort of thing, I didn't want to say it before, but Lennie's right." I told him as I faced the blank Louisiana area.

"Well what about you? You were just like them at one point."

"I know I wasn't, but I just had to." I told him.

"Sarah, every time I see you like this, I remember your father. That's _not_ a good thing." Joe exposed the bubbly, disgusting scar that added to my collection of others.

"I know this isn't what he wants for me, Joe, but we don't have a choice." I said to him.

"We always have a choice." Joe said to me.

"No." I told him.

"No we don't, we're dragged into this and I'd never be able to live with myself if I turned it down." I denied him tiredly.

"I know I don't say this enough Sarah," Joe said as he ripped out my last stitch and gave me my shirt back. "But I'm sorry I couldn't save them. If I knew what your parents were planning to do, I would have done something about it." He told me.

"I thought we always had a choice?" I asked him.

"We do. And I chose Megaton over my friends. For the love of God, Sarah, I don't want you to go out and choose between something like that."

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I needed you to stay in Florida. Having you here is going to give me a heart attack." Joe told me as he brought me in for a hug.

"I just want to do something with myself." Joe sighed as I hugged him back.

"And the best thing for you to do is nothing."

"Yeah." I nodded at me as we looked at the morning sky shimmering against the dead grass and shining through the broken up houses.

"Do you believe him?" I asked Joe.

"Who?"

"Ulysses. Do you think he's right about that chemical warhead going around the country?"

"He knows what he's doing. He's a smart man, if he thinks it will happen it _will_ happen."

"You should go to sleep." Joe told me.

"Why?" I asked him.

"I need to re-stitch my ass and I don't want you looking." Joe said calmly as he patted my back.

"Right. Sleeping's going to be tough now." I nodded as I got away from him, walking back to the camp.

I looked at the camp, where Rilee and Lennie where lying in bedrolls that were near each other. Lennie smiled in his sleep and turned over towards Rilee, where she got up and started to clean Lennie's head wound in his sleep while he tossed and turned happily in his slumber. She turned to me, and nodded respectfully as she gently cleaned Lennie's wounds with a wet cloth. I smiled at them as I turned to Ulysses, who took off all of his weapons to get better sleep, and he was, judging from his open mouth and calm breathing next to Dogmeat, who slipped back into a deep slumber, resting on his owner's foot. Looking at everyone get a good night's sleep by the fire made me feel peaceful, and most of all, tired, I laid down in my bedroll, and shut my eyes.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: A Man's Best Friend...**

I awoke the next morning to feeling Dogmeat step on me through my bedroll. I blinked my eyes and looked around as Dogmeat bit a blackened stick and carried it back to Ulysses, where he took it out of his mouth and threw it again. Lennie's eyes opened quickly in a cold sweat got up from his bedroll, looking up at the area around him, and springing up.

"What time is it?!" He yelled as he packed up his things.

"Almost 4:30." Ulysses answered him as he played fetch with his dog.

"And you didn't wake us up?!" Lennie yelled.

"You needed the rest." Ulysses answered.

"I could have rested when we give Logan back the money!" Lennie shouted.

"What are you so worried about anyway?" Joe asked with a yawn as he got up from his sleep roll.

"'_What am I worried about'_? Have you seen that guy?" Lennie asked us.

"We can take him. Now the women he hangs around with are different, they can take a punch or two." Joe told him as he stretched his back, and coughed nastily, feeling his throat for whatever came up.

"We've got to go._ Now_." Lennie said as he picked up his rifle and started to walk.

"Great." Rilee sighed as she picked up her canteen and drank from it.

"You're still drinking that stuff?" Lennie asked her.

"Yeah. Why shouldn't I?" Rilee asked as she put it away.

"You heard what he said about it. That stuff is gonna make you insane, Rilee." Lennie told her as Ulysses and Dogmeat walked back to us.

"It's fine, and it keeps me alert." Rilee told him.

"Until it wears off." Ulysses told her as he packed his things up.

"Well I can just make more if it does." Rilee squinted at the man and shook her head.

"Plus, I'm drinking because of this." Rilee pulled out her gas mask and showed Lennie a tear in the side of her mask.

"That's gonna be there forever now, I can't repair it." Rilee told him.

"Sorry." Lennie shrugged.

"And why do _you_ care so much about what I do anyway?" Rilee asked Lennie angrily.

"Because if we're ever going to make it to the trainyard, we need to keep our heads in place, ya' hear?" Lennie asked her.

"Keep the romantic tension at a standstill, kids. We still have places to go and people to kill." Joe eased them.

"Then let's go!" Lennie shouted as he quickly walked away.

We followed Lennie, chasing after him as we jogged to the train station as the sun began to set on us. Panting and wheezing, we lugged our belongings after Lennie, who always stayed ahead of us somehow. As Joe coughed and snorted, he looked over to Dogmeat, who was jogging happily next to Ulysses.

"Wish I were _you_ right now." He said weakly to the dog.

"How close are we?" I asked Lennie

"About another half-mile and we should make it there before the sun goes down." Lennie answered quickly.

We all sighed loudly and kept moving on the roads, ignoring the sounds of animals in the distance.

"Wait a minute." Lennie stopped us, making us halt and stumble.

"What is it?" Rilee asked angrily.

"You hear that?" Lennie asked us.

"Have you been drinking my juice-"

"Be quiet." He whispered to us as Dogmeat walked up the street to a mailbox and marked his territory on it.

"Congrats. With your expertise I'll never piss myself again." Joe said sarcastically as he walked forward.

Lennie clenched onto Joe's shoulder and threw him backwards into a bush.

"Hide. Now." He told us as she followed him into the bush.

We played along and went next to the house that kept a large dead bush, browned and blackened from its death.

We sat still for minutes, crouching and looking towards the street as a growling noise approached us, its voice increasing as it neared us. I tried to control my frantic breathing as I remembered what sound it was. The five of us sat still in shock as we watched a family of Deathclaws creep onto the street, their arms outstretched as they used their best sense to find us. Their white, lifeless eyes beamed ahead as they smelled the air, walking further up the street and past us. Joe tried to move his head to see them, but he just turned back to me to ask.

"How many of them ar-"

Lennie grabbed Joe's shoulder and glared at him, holding his finger to his mouth angrily as she shushed him.

The devastating Deathclaws sunk their claws into the mailbox where Dogmeat once stood and wretched their arms up, lifting the mailbox into the air and threw it against the house next to us, shattering it and sending the dust over our heads. Lennie breathed heavily and covered his mouth as the Deathclaws walked towards us, their back spikes twisting with their tan torso as they walked. The Deathclaws were now a few feet away from us, stepping on the mailbox as their marked their kill, turning back around and going back the way they came.

We waited for minutes silently until Lennie slowly moved out of the bush.

"Good boy, Dogmeat." Ulysses said as he tossed the mutt a piece of food.

"Don't waste our food. We barely have enough for a few days as it is." Rilee said to him.

"He just saved our lives, mind you. Wouldn't you appreciate a reward for your enterprise?" Ulysses asked.

"Not really an enterprise if you just peed for a victory." Rilee mumbled as she walked forward.

"Let's keep going the sun's going down." Lennie affirmed us.

"I need a breather from that one." Joe coughed as he rested his hands on his thighs.

"If that's what you call breathing." I said to him.

"Don't be a sourpuss right now. I almost died." Joe said as he walked behind Lennie.

"Yeah I know, I was there, remember?"

"The question you should be asking is why they went after _us_." Rilee said to us.

"They were hungry, so what?" Joe stared at her.

"It was a hunting party. Don't you know anything about Deathclaws?" Lennie asked him.

"I know they scare the shit out of me." Joe shrugged.

"They knew we were there, and they tracked us down." Lennie said to him, pointing at the ground.

"How could they do that?" I asked him.

"Because one of us got too close to one of them." Ulysses said to us, turning his head to Lennie as he walked.

"Lennie?" I asked him.

"What?" He asked me.

"What was in that Deathclaw egg when you tried to feed us?" I asked him.

"There's the train yard." Lennie pointed ahead to a flat area full of trains.

"_Lennie_." I commanded him.

"What? It was just an egg!" Lennie yelled.

"You killed one of their babies, didn't you?!" Joe yelled.

"There was only one! I thought the others hatched already! Damn..." Lennie said to us.

"They're going to be tracking us down if they ever pick up the trail." Ulysses said to him.

"Well he thought that mailbox was me, so maybe they won't do anything!" Lennie yelled.

"Or maybe they will." Ulysses said as we walked into the train yard.

The area of land had rusted train tracks zigzagging everywhere with equally as old train cars sitting on them, just as dead as the rest of the world was. Our group slowly separated and looked around for the people meeting us. I looked up at the tunnel leading into the metro in the area and sighed, thinking about what morbidly unattractive things awaited inside.

"Dammit they left!" Lennie shouted as he pounded the ground.

"We're done, man..." Lennie sighed.

"Lennie, what are you so scared about? Logan's just one guy!" I yelled at him.

"You don't understand, he-"

"Howdy!" A voice interrupted us, making us turn to attention to the group of men in scrap metal armors with custom made, rusted weaponry.

"Guys, he said howdy. That means he's southern." Joe whispered.

"Thank you." I whispered back sarcastically.

The five men were spread out to us, looking in anticipation at us as we looked back equally as so.

"I heard we were making a deal here, so let's see what you got." The man in front of us said.

I stared at the man's attire in mortification. His hair was flipped upwards and he wore a long black duster that went down to his ankles, and most notably, a knife that has been purged into the side of his neck, sticking out at us. We stared at the knife in the man as he just looked back, not caring that it was stuck in there.

"What?" I asked him.

"The weapons, you know the stuff you're supposed to trade with us for your box of slave collars?" The man asked us like we were children and forgot why we were out here.

"We don't know what you're talking about." I told them.

"Are you saying we went out here for no reason?" The man asked us sharply as he crossed his arms.

"We were never given any of your guns!" Lennie exclaimed as our groups locked eyes, each person glaring at their own target.

"Then these next few moments are going to be _very_ unpleasant for someone." He grunted at us.

Dogmeat stood to attention at the men, on guard, just as the two groups did.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: ...Is a Man's Worst Enemy**

I stared at the man as Dogmeat growled, awaiting Ulysses' orders as he slowly reached for his bag. I turned around to our group and turned back around to the men.

"Listen, we can work this out, it's a misunderstanding, and we can fix this." I bargained with them.

"No can do, sugar. A deal's a deal." The man said to me without changing his facial expression to display his anger.

"What are you talking about… bitter syrup?" I asked him, creating a nickname for him as he did to me.

"This is the last time Logan and his boys are going to screw us over." The man said easily as he paced around the invisible line that separated us.

"Sorry, dollface, but we're going to have to take the collateral." He said to me.

"Bullshit you will..." Joe mumbled as he reached for his gun.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man spoke to him as I pointed to the top of the tunnel, where men aimed their rifles at us.

"So what is it you want from us?" I asked him as the men drew closer to us.

"Like I said... collateral." He answered as I was grabbed from behind and stripped of my weapons, looking around to only see that the same was happening to all of us. I was punched in the back, and I dropped to my knees, where the man pulled my head up to face the knife stab survivor.

"Don't worry. Your deaths will not be in vain. Logan will understand the price for incompetence." The man smiled as black bags were pulled over our faces.

Dogmeat growled and barked at the man as I heard Joe and Lennie try to get free.

"Call your dog off." The man ordered Ulysses.

"Dogmeat..." Ulysses sighed at his dog.

"Sic 'em." He said confidently as Dogmeat ran forward at the man as Ulysses pulled out his bag and tossed it.

"Sarah." Ulysses told me as gunshots rang out above me.

I took the bag off my head and grabbed his bag, rolling away from the men and opening it, spilling the radiation grenades next to Ulysses and me. I picked one up and pulled the pin, throwing it at the men atop of the tunnel as bullets whizzed past us. The grenade blew up into a brilliant green haze, sending the two men off the tunnel as the radiation burned through their clothes and skin, melting off their faces as they hit the ground. I picked up another one of the glowing grenades and launched it ahead of us and having it land behind the group of men, detonating the bomb and burning away their flesh and gouging out their eyes as they burned from radiation poisoning. The men behind us turned to me and aimed our weapons at me, pulling back the hammers of our white phosphorus rounds. Joe sprang up with the bag on his head and pulled out his knife, holding it to one of the unknown man's throat.

"Don't move, or he dies!" Joe threatened at the rest of the men as Rilee and Lennie disarmed the others about to fire at me.

"Joe..." I sighed at him.

"What?"

"You already killed him." I said to him disappointingly.

"What?" Joe asked as he turned the man around to see that he cut his jugular and he bled out over himself.

"Aw!" Joe yelled as he pushed the dead man away from him as we executed the men.

"Well at least he took a blood-nap." Joe smiled as he stretched his back.

"Then let's get the fuck out of here!" Rilee yelled as she ran forward.

Lennie cleared his throat and back away from the bodies as he swallowed hard. "What about Logan?"

"Screw Logan, he tried to have us killed!" Rilee shouted as she walked forward.

"And what the hell is he trying to do with slave collars in the first place?" Joe asked us.

"Another reason why we should get the hell out of Louisiana." Rilee said to us.

"Guys." Lennie told us quietly off to the side.

"His men are smart, aren't they? They can track us and cut us off if they figure out where we're going." I said to her.

"How else are we going to get away?" Rilee asked me angrily.

"Well, we _are_ in a train yard." Joe said sarcastically.

"Wait a minute..." Rilee said as she ran into the tunnel.

"Guys." Lennie said again louder.

"I was making a joke, you know!" Joe yelled as she looked through the train car.

"I can make this engine run on energy cells! We could use this, the cart isn't as rusted inside here and it even has tools!" Rilee exclaimed from inside the train car.

"Guys." Lennie said again in almost a shout.

"What?" We all asked him at once sternly.

Lennie turned his head over to the group of bodies slowly, where Ulysses kneeled, looking down at Dogmeat as the dog's stomach bled crimson from gunshots. Dogmeat lay in front of the man with the knife in his neck, with the knife now pulled around his neck, leaving him dead. The dog whimpered lightly as it struggled to get up, but only to fall onto the ground again. We all looked in remorse at him as he kneeled over his dog, looking down at it. We slowly walked over to him and looked down at the sight, where Ulysses didn't pay attention to anything else.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: For the Man Who Feels Nothing**

"Ulysses?" I asked him.

"What?" He answered back slowly.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"I'm fine." He answered as he got up.

"Let's keep going. There's nothing we can do for him." Ulysses said blankly as he walked away.

"Wait." I told him as I grabbed his shoulder.

"What do you want, Sarah?" Ulysses asked me with a sigh.

"You're just going to leave him there?" I asked him.

"We have more important things to do, nothing matters more than this." Ulysses grunted as he turned to the tunnel.

"_Wait."_ I said again, turning him back around.

"Why do you insist on slowing us down even more?" Ulysses asked me.

"He's your dog, Ulysses. Aren't you going to say anything? Aren't you going to do something, for Christ's sake, he's _your_ dog and he's suffering!"

"You're the only person who seems to care the most." He answered.

"Exactly." I told him.

"You need to face it, Ulysses, you can't hide behind a wall of nothing forever, one of these days you're going to have to make the hard decisions just like us, and you can't stay neutral on it." I told him.

"What do you want me to do?! WE DON'T HAVE ANY MEDICINE OR AMMO!" Ulysses shouted at me, surprising Joe and Lennie with the amount of volume coming from him.

Ulysses slumped back onto his knees, looking down at the heavily breathing dog.

"What do we do?" Ulysses asked, almost in a whisper as he stared at his companion.

We looked at each other, and looked down at Ulysses in silence. I turned away from him as Lennie put his hand on Ulysses' shoulder.

"You already know the answer." Lennie told him.

I breathed in heavily as Lennie stared at Ulysses sadly, with his mouth open.

Joe took out his knife and flipped it around, handing the handle of the blade to Ulysses. He grabbed it and breathed hard as ran his fingers through his dog's hair as it whimpered on the dirt ground. Joe dropped his hand from Ulysses' shoulder as the man grabbed tightly onto his dog's neck, making it kick the dirt away from him, flailing his arms as his master stabbed him. Ulysses sobbed as he held the dog in a chokehold. Soon, Dogmeat's movements slowed to a stop and the body dropped to the floor.

"Oh God…" Lennie exhaled as he turned away.

The group was dead silent as we turned to Ulysses, who exhaled hard, getting up and turning his back on the sight.

"Do you want to bury him?" Lennie asked.

"Yes." Ulysses answered blankly.

"While Rilee helps with the train we can have a funeral." Joe told him.

"Do you have a shovel in there, Rilee?" Joe shouted into the train.

"I'll look." Rilee yelled back from inside the train. The next few seconds she rumbled around in the junk, finally slipping something out and showing it out the window.

"Found one!" She yelled as she tossed it to Joe, who took it over to us.

"Do you want to do it?" I asked Ulysses as Joe held the shovel in front of him.

Ulysses stared at the shovel for a moment sadly, barely picking up his head to look at it. Finally, he outstretched his arm and took it from him, getting up from the ground and walking towards the bodies.

As the sun on the horizon, we looked at Ulysses as he dug the hole, not saying a word or asking him for help as the wind blew our hairs to the right as the orange sun slipped over the flat ground. Ulysses grunted for minutes as he dug the hole, ignoring the wandering eyes as the only thing we heard in the plain was the shovel, the wind, and the faint echoes of Rilee tinkering away at the train. Soon, he finished the hole, and climbed out of it, looking over at his hound's body. He slowly walked over to it and ripped his jumpsuit, exposing a black tanktop underneath. Ulysses took the brown, weather-worn collar of the dog and put it away. He used the vault jumpsuit to wrap his dog in it and placed it in the grave, the yellow '101' showing to us as we all looked down into the hole. Ulysses then picked up his shovel and started to cover the dog for the next hour until the sun set on us. When he was done, he dropped the shovel on the ground and looked down at the fresh dirt.

"He was a good dog." Ulysses told us, as if we didn't already know.

"He was." I agreed with him.

"Dogmeat saved us all, and he did it to protect you." I said to him.

"Yeah. You know, you remind me of him. You act the same." He answered, still looking down at the grave.

Out of nowhere, Ulysses looked up and waked away from us towards the groups of bodies, and to the man with the knife in his neck. He stared down at his corroded body and ripped off his black trench coat, removing the sleeves with his yank. Ulysses held the tattered coat in his hands and walked towards the train, leaving us in wonder as he went inside the six car train.

"What's he doing?" Joe asked me.

"Occupying himself." I answered as Lennie looked down at the grave.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: Run**

"We should probably go find a place to sleep." Joe suggested.

"Where?" Lennie asked us.

I looked in awe at the train, saying "It's a line of trains, and from the looks of it, it was making a long ride before..."

"Is this the part when someone makes an explosion sound?" Joe shrugged questionably as he walked to the engine car.

"How's it going?" Joe shouted inside as he banged on the doors.

"There's a bunch of rusted metal crap, but I can replace it with some fresh crap." Rilee shouted from inside.

"Well hurry it up, Logan's men are going to be checking this place out sometime soon." Joe shouted into it.

"Well I might be able to work faster if-"

"I'll help you." Ulysses interrupted her as he walked from the cart to the engine room.

"Alright then." Rilee said, continuing to mumble incoherent instructions to the man.

"Let's check this place out then." Joe smiled at me as he clasped the iron bars of the door.

"Wait." I said as I pulled out my pistol.

"How many rounds do you have?" Joe asked me as he picked up a lead pipe sitting on a bench.

I popped the clip out of my pistol and checked the glowing white rounds as we waited outside the door. "Six phosphorus." I answered him.

"And you wouldn't give that to Ulysses for Dogmeat?"

"I wasn't going to let that dog die out like that."

"Good enough." Joe said as he ripped open the sliding door, exposing darkness throughout the train — darkness that consumed the tunnel we were in and forcing me to scavenge the light from my Pip-Boy.

Joe poked his pipe into the cart as I aimed my pistol behind him, using my wrist light to illuminate the cavernous cart. Joe nodded at me and climbed up onto the train, looking inside. I aimed my pistol to the left as Joe checked out the right, using my Pip-Boy light to guide him through the dry atmosphere and the stench of rotted and decaying bile. We peered ever so slowly in the room, staying close together and taking short paces as we explored the first cart. Waiting for us was a dusted desk with a hand print on it, with a turned over jar of sewing supplies and dried paint.

"Look at this." I said to Joe, almost in a whisper, as I directed him to the hand print.

"What is it?" Joe asked as he bent his head to it.

The door of the train then screeched open, making our hearts simultaneously jump and guard the door.

"I found my cart." Ulysses told us with no humor intended in his voice.

"Let's search another." Joe told me as we walked calmly over to the door at the end of the first cart and repeated our steps.

Joe opened up the door with a grunt as it scraped open, revealing more darkness to us, the only bastion of vision being the luminous glow of the wrist-computer. Ulysses closed the door behind us, spilling over the cups as he turned on his light to find what I guessed were tools. Joe carried on forward using his two hands to channel the fear of darkness into something visible. We trekked slowly forward, making sure the light was where we can both see it, only leaving us a small berth of relief for every motion. This cart held what appeared to be a few lockers and tool boxes.

"Have to tell Rilee and Ulysses that." I mumbled to myself, taking the mental note of the box as I continued ahead.

This room appeared to have only benched separated by poles for sitting on, with the windows that were meant to appreciate the scenery of the places people used to travel; now stricken brown and blurred with dust. A toilet and sink were placed in the corner, barely visible as its color matched the brown walls. Above us, a long wire stretched down the cart towards the next, ending at the door with an intercom box that was connected to a series of buttons. I pressed one of the buttons and listened to the intercoms response — nothing. Knowing my futile attempt at reviving this train, I signaled Joe to open the next train door, the memory of the light now emphasized in my mind. He opened it slower than all the other doors — more than any other door he had opened, and looked around. Beds, beds covered this entire cart, barely giving us room to look around. The smell of bile was now more pungent than before, and rightfully so, as I noticed tucked-in lumps in the bed.

"Looks like they died while sleeping." Joe told me.

"That can't be right." I said to him.

"Didn't the bombs fall in the morning?" I turned around and asked him.

Suddenly the train jerked forward, catching Joe and I off-guard as the lighting flickered on and the intercom became full of faint static.

"We got it!" Rilee shouted through the intercom's feedback.

The lumps around us flipped upwards, covering themselves in the yellowed cloths, facing their covered heads at us and screamed — screams that came directly from the stomach and continued until the creatures were out of breath entirely. They flew from the beds and ran at Joe and I, tripping over themselves as they made it towards us. Joe had already begun swinging, and I was soon to following, noticing the dried claws of a Clamper as it tried to snap them down unto my flesh.

We backtracked, retreating in the most violent way possible as the Clampers screamed and fell over each other. Through the bodies of sheets and death, one body fell forward, one with dried eyes that looked like they were never closed to blink as it had begun to grow fungi on them. I aimed my pistol and fired a shot into its chest, not affecting it at all as it clamped onto my shoulder and never once had the thought to let go. I shrieked in both pain and fright as it pulled me into the dog pile of sheeted demons. Joe ran at me, grinding his teeth with his mouth wide open as he tried to wretch me free. He dropped his pipe and used his free hand to punch the Clamper in its eyes whilst pulling me into the crowd of Clampers that poured into the center from the rest of the cars. I covered my ears in pain as the loud sounds of screaming and bullets echoed into my head. When I opened my eyes was only when I realized that Joe had been yelling for me to take my gun back. I stared blankly in response until I could read his lips for the command, looking to my gun in his hands. Joe turned away and fired at the Clampers with his left hand as his right hand forced any weapon available on me. Deafened in the emotional and mental state of mind, I lazily picked up Joe's pipe and threw it into the crowd, missing and sparking the walls of the train car. The abrupt change in noise angered my lost sense and made me succumb back to holding my head and freezing up my structure. As I painfully opened my eyes yet again, the doors on the sides of the car opened to light, and to two armed men who fired at the Clampers, forming a triangle of death as I sat there, motionless. When the sparks of the guns seceded, I looked up at them and then at my gun.

"Yeah, can I have that bed with the least amount of bloodstains?" Lennie asked us.

"Finders keepers." Joe smiled as he jumped onto the bed at the end of the cart.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: Night**

"You alright?" Ulysses asked me.

"Joe got hit by a Clamper, I think, but the only thing wrong with me is my shoulder, and my head." I answered him as I sat down at the bed and let Ulysses use the small amount of light to examine me.

"You're lucky. If he pressed down harder, he could of stabbed you, although it looks like the metal of the bed already did that for you. We already gave Joe some medicine, he should be fine." Ulysses told me.

"As for your head, it could be the train's metal walls, or a recent head injury that makes you feel like this." Ulysses told me.

"Thanks for the help." I told him.

"I wish I could be of more help, but I'm not a professional doctor." Ulysses said to me.

"Come on, I'll get you something for your head." Ulysses told me as he walked to the second car.

He opened the door to his part of the train, which exposed a locker, and the dusted off desk and chair with stitching and painting equipment and a locker, where Ulysses had already put his things. I smiled lightly as he pulled a stimpak out of his locker and popped the plastic cap of the needle off with his teeth as I sat down in the chair.

"How are you?" I asked him.

"I told you, I'm fine." Ulysses answered.

"Are you sure?" I questioned as he injected the stimpak into my wound.

"I have to keep my mind on what we are doing, and why we're here." Ulysses said as he swabbed my cut and gave me a compress for my head.

"And why are we here?" I asked him seriously.

"Because we have to be." Ulysses told me.

"Because _we_ have to be, or because _you_ have to be? Joe and I've been talking, and…"

"Many a great men have perished from their own emotions... I won't make the same mistake. We're here because this is what's right." Ulysses explained to me.

"You're here to right wrongs?" I asked, piecing together his sentence.

"No. I'm here to bring the balance that America needs." He confirmed.

"Do you know what The Declaration of Independence is?" Ulysses asked me.

"No." I answered as I faced the wall.

"The Declaration of Independence marked the freedoms of man, and brought the balance of a nation for hundreds of years. This single document changed history by the touch of ink... and I stumbled upon it while trying to find a place to sleep." Ulysses told me sadly.

"A document that should have been remembered by everyone today is worth no more than the clothes on your back." Ulysses told me as he looked at my burned, cut, and stained shirt and pants.

"When I picked it up, I couldn't help but read it, I guess you could say that my young mind begged for curiosity. But when I read it, I realized something... there needs to be peace in the world, but with that peace there needs to be sacrifice. Remember what I told you in the hotel? In a good world... we have to do bad things, there needs to be bad people, that's what makes us strive to do better." Ulysses said.

"You're not a bad man, Ulysses." I told him.

"You wouldn't understand my ways of thinking." He mumbled.

"I know you enough to know that you didn't bury Dogmeat for the better of the mission." I said to him.

Ulysses inhaled to speak, but my ears only met silence as he finished disinfecting my cuts.

"Get some rest." Ulysses directed me as he walked back to his desk.

"Maybe." I told him as I got up.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked him.

"I have something else that requires my attention." Ulysses said to me as he looked toward the locker.

"Oh... well I found a tool box in the next room if you need it." I told him.

"I won't need that, but thank you." Ulysses smiled as he sat down in the chair.

"You know that vault suit you wore when we first met?" I asked him.

"Yes." Ulysses nodded.

"It belonged to my father." I told him with my eyes on him.

"I'm sorry." Ulysses told me as he looked down at the torn off torso.

"It's okay, I just wanted you to know." I nodded at him.

"Goodnight." I said to him.

"Goodnight." Ulysses said back.

I walked out of the room to the resting area and took the driest bed available, trying not to breathe in the vapor of the bodies. I didn't even care about the foul smell of the heated bodies, as I was already used to it, albeit uncomfortable for me. I shut my eyes, trying not to think about who exactly slept there last. The pain of the new cuts hurt me in my slumber, and Joe's snoring drew Lennie away across the room into a new bed. Later in the night, I could hear the footsteps of Ulysses and Rilee as they came from the engine room.

"Is it going to work?" She asked him.

"Yes, we just need time." Ulysses answered.

"Good, because I'm tired of doing this." Rilee sighed.

"Aren't we all?" Ulysses sighed as he took one of the many beds available.

And with the good news of the engine in my mind, I tried to smiled inside, as my body was too tired to express it externally.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: The Enemy**

I slept until my mind awoke, signaling the muscles in my body to get up. The peaceful interval of the time it took for me to wake up was bliss to me, as I yawned and stretched in the bed that didn't even seem to have a hint of the evil it harbored. Purging the vile that slept in the bed, I finally got up, and reached for my bag at the side of me. Since no one else was in the train car anymore, I took the time to change my clothes into a pair of faded black jeans that seemed to be too tight for my calves at the time, along with a black belt and steel buckle that has since rusted. I adorned a gray tank top, mainly because it was comfortable to be punching something with it on. Finally, I sat at the end of my bed and put on heavily-washed and faded boots that seemed to be the color of black, but it soon faded to white as it reached the center of each boot. I got up and looked around for where everyone else was. I turned to the right and heard the faint, indistinct chatter of people in the car down. I opened the old door and peered inside.

This cart was full of only lockers that were lazily closed, some being left open completely. Inside were the weapons that Logan's men used to attack us, from the two empty sniper rifles the men shot at us with, to the man with the knife in his neck's pistol that he shot Dogmeat with, tucked away in its own locker.

The indefinite conversations got louder as I walked to the next door, looking around through the foggy window to see what was going on. I soon opened the door and spotted the group eating at a table that took up most of the cart.

"Sup." Rilee nodded at me as she took a plate of gecko meat.

"Found the dinner cart. Nothing much for us here, though." She told me as she used her head to point at a free chair.

I took the chair and pulled it out to sit down, wondering where the tall beast came from.

"How'd you get this?" I asked them.

"Joe and I went huntin' at the break of dawn. You shouldav' seen it." Lennie smiled at Joe.

"I killed the mother." Joe smiled proudly.

"Right after the husband knocked you into a wall." Lennie told him.

"Still kicked his ass." Joe shrugged as he fed himself the steaming meat.

"How'd you cook it?" I asked them.

"We used the fire from the engine to heat this bastard up." Lennie answered.

"Does that mean the train's ready?" I asked Ulysses.

"No, but it's almost done. Rilee and I can finish it up today." He told me.

"Thanks for the toolbox by the way." Rilee looked up at me, showing her respect by not staring down her food.

"Eat up, kiddo, because we've got a fine day of sitting on our asses ahead of us." Joe sighed sarcastically.

I cut up my gecko with the fork and knife and brought it to my mouth, chewing and trying my best to listen to Lennie and Joe's story of how Joe got a scrape on his left shoulder while in the gecko den, while chewing the crunchy skin.

"So the pappa got up and threw him into the ground!" Lennie smiled.

"Still kicked his ass." Joe mumbled.

"Still whinin' about it, it _sounds_ like." Lennie giggled as he chewed his food, wincing down in pain as he chomped it.

"That was bone." Lennie mumbled with the food in his mouth, holding his jaw.

"That reminds me. Come with me, Sarah." Ulysses told me as I gulped down my water.

"Thanks for the meal, boys." I smiled at the two as I got up and walked to the second cart with Ulysses.

"They brought back a lot more than just a mother gecko." Ulysses explained as he opened up his locker to a gecko-backed leather arm guards.

"What's this?" I asked him.

"An apology for ruining your father's suit. I made it last night." Ulysses told me as he gave the two brown arm guards to me.

"A back _and_ hip holster? How'd you learn to do this stuff, anyway?" I asked as I put the armor on.

"It was all in the G.O.A.T., I guess." Ulysses answered.

"The G.O.A.T.?" I repeated.

"The Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test that every person takes when they turn 16. Mine didn't necessarily say I was to be good with fixing things, but then again, I was too young to pay attention to the results." Ulysses said as he sat down in his chair and spun it around to face his desk, where the paint and sewing kit were freshly opened.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him as I looked over his shoulder at his project.

"I think of it as a reminder to myself." Ulysses said.

"Is that the duster you got from that guy with the knife in his face?" I interviewed as Ulysses sewed through the black hole with the needle.

"Yes." He answered as he flipped it over to the back area, where he had painted a blue, red, and white symbol on it. It appeared to be a blue circle with a white star in the middle, surrounded by other, smaller white stars that encompassed the edge of the shape. Coming down from the bottom of it were four red lines that appeared to end at the split in the duster, where the space between the legs began.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"This _was_... the American Flag." Ulysses said as he stared at the symbol.

"Why did you paint it on there?" I asked him.

"Because it's a vow I made to myself, to never let my emotions get in the way again, and the only way to do that is to remind myself about what happened to history's greatest men." Ulysses said to me.

"If that's what you want to do, then that's fine by-"

A cripplingly loud gunshot rang outside the train car, ending our conversation in an instant.

"COME ON OUT! WE KNOW YOU ASSHOLES ARE DUMB ENOUGH TO STAY HERE!" A man's voice shouted at us as Ulysses and I stared each other.

Behind us, the door opened to Lennie, Joe, and Rilee, waiting for someone to do something.

"Rilee, get working on that engine as fast as you can." Ulysses ordered her in an instant as she ran as fast as she could away.

"Joe, guard us while we fix it." Ulysses told him.

"Sarah, stall them for as long as possible while Lennie flanks around them." He said to us.

"Uh, are you sure?" Lennie asked.

"Lennie. Do it." Ulysses commanded.

"O-Okay." Lennie stuttered as he went out the back exit as I went out the front, with no hesitation.

I walked slowly out the cart, my hands raised as high as the skies, walking intensely out of the tunnel while I heard faint footsteps walk along the left side of the train. I walked out of the tunnel and to my right, and faced the band of armed people, wearing rusted metal chest plates and helmets.

"Well, well, well, I was right!" One of the men chuckled.

"NICE WORK BOSS!" A woman shouted loudly.

"Why do you have to yell? It's the morning." I complained to her.

"WELL WHY DO YOU GOTTA BE QUIET?!" She boomed.

"I-I dunno, common sense? Are you kidding me with this guy?" I asked, looking for the other armed people for a response.

"Look, there's been a misunderstanding; we can clear it up, okay?" I started.

"A misunderstanding? You killed our men!" One of the men shouted.

"Look at it this way; we didn't necessarily kill them as they… decided to perform a cluster suicide together." I continued to talk out of my ass.

"BULLSHIT! THE ONLY REASON YOU'RE TALKING NOW IS BECAUSE WE CAUGHT YOU IN THE ACT!" The woman echoed in the morning.

"Holy shit, can you guys tell her to shut up for the rest of this conversation? What's the matter with you, a speech impediment?"

"I'M TONE DEAF. THAT'S WHY I DON'T SING!"

"W-When would this situation call for you to sing?"

"DON'T PATRAONIZE ME, MEAT BUFFET!"

I looked at her for a moment with my mouth partially open.

"W-What?"

"Anyway… I can give you your collars back, plus the payment that Logan promised you." I said to them calmly.

"No can do, missie, you've already got a bounty up on that pretty little head of yours." The man in front said.

"A bounty? By who?" I asked.

"YOU'LL KNOW HER NAME SOON ENOUGH!" The woman shouted.

"How did you even get this job on this negotiation team here?" I asked her.

"GOOD COP, BAD COP, LEAD PIANO!"

"Do you seriously think this is what negotiating is right now?"

"Shut up and let me talk." The man in front said lowly.

"Look, I can sense that you're the leader, right?" I nodded at the man in front of the war party.

"Then why don't you make the right choice and protect your people?" I asked him before he could even answer the last question.

"What hell are you talking about?" The man asked me.

"What I'm talking about it that there's a rifle aimed at the back of your head and if you even turn around for a second there'll be a bullet in between your eyes before you can piss yourself." I warned him.

"Clever." The man smiled.

"Not clever enough." He glared at me as he rose up his hand to the air, signaling out two men, dragging Rilee out to the confrontation. I looked concerned at her as they tied cloth around her mouth, keeping her from talking.

"We saw her running out here before you even got to us. You call that a plan?" The man snickered.

"YOU WANT ME TO START NEGOTIATING NOW, BOSS?!" The obnoxious woman screamed.

"The door for that closed, like, 12 seconds ago. Are you seriously just thinking about that option now?" I asked her.

"Be quiet, the both of you. Now, here's how it's gonna go." The man said as he pulled Rilee next to him by her dark hair and held his revolver to her head.

"Give me the collars and the payment, and then you'll tell us why you're so intent on pissing off the two Wasteland Lords." The man nodded.

"Okay." I said weakly, looking back at the train, and then at the floor, reaching slowly for my pistol.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man threatened as he tugged on Rilee's hair harshly, making her whimpers muffled through the cloth.

"They want me to stall..." I sighed as I continued to reach for my pistol.

"What are you doing? You're only going to get shot, girl!" The man shouted at me.

"... I'll stall them." I mumbled as I gripped my pistol.

"I'm done with this! Shoot them both!" The man screamed at his group.

"Not a good idea, hoss!" A voice shouted from above us, making us look above to Lennie as he held his rifle in one hand, and lightly tossed a radiation grenade in the other as he glared angrily at the man holding Rilee.

"Let 'em go!" Lennie shouted at the man.

"And what makes you think you'll kill all of us with one grenade?" The man chortled.

"Because. I'm a hunter, and I'll always be one step ahead of you… or behind you… I'm trying to make a hunting pun, but it's not working out for me, never mind." Lennie called down to them.

"BOSS, I DON'T LIKE WHAT HE'S INSINUATING!" The woman shouted to the leader.

"W-Why are you yelling to him? He's—he's like five inches away from you." Lennie questioned atop of the tunnel.

Growls and roars erupted from behind the men, making them turn around to see what the commotion was. The family of Deathclaws, ranging from babies to the green Alphas the size of three men ran at the soldiers, spreading away the men as they ran away in the combination of fear and anger towards them. Lennie ran down from atop the tunnel as I untied Rilee and lead her towards the train, shooting my last shots at the largest Deathclaw. The Deathclaws tore apart the group, making their death screams apparent from even inside the train. Rilee ran to Lennie and he grabbed her by the shoulder and led her away as I stared at the carnage induced by the animals. The screams of fleeing people rattled my head and made me dizzy and nauseous as bullets flew from all around my at the beasts who ripped flesh from their six inch claws.

"Sarah!" Lennie yelled at me, making me turn around to the train that was moving slowly down the tracks and away from the fight.

I turned back to the fight between the armed men and the Deathclaws as a man was lifted into the air and cut open through the stomach over the babies. I backed away from them and ran towards the train as Lennie brought Rilee to the moving door and brought them to it. I ran at the train as fast as I could, but a force brought my own to the ground instead. The leader of the group, now bloodied and covered in sweat and dirt choked me on the ground.

"YOU KILLED US ALL!" He yelled at me as I struggled to intake air. I held his arms and tried to push him away as his complexion turned red from anger, and mine to purple.

"You killed us…" The annoying woman repeated in a whisper over the loud firefight.

"Seriously? This was your time to yell!" I shouted at her.

The train pulled faster and faster away from i's left turn. As my eyes shut from the loud sounds in my head, I saw a green circle fall next to us. Without thinking, I used all my force and adrenaline to roll the leader on top of it and sneer angrily at him as the blast gave off, sending me up into the air as the radiation burned through his body below me. I landed on the ground with the wind knocked out of me as I crawled on the dusty ground in some state I never thought existed. I picked up the man's pistol as I crawled towards the train, knowing that I would never be able to catch up to it at the speed I was going. I crawled to my knees, using my hands to guide me forward as the shellshock set in, deafening my ears and ruining my cognitive function. Despite the agonizing pain and fatigue, I got to my feet and started to hobble towards the train as the sounds of death and dismemberment echoed faintly behind me. My eyes were halfway to shutting and my body halfway out of its energy when I heard a voice.

"Come back, Sarah!" A hoarse voice called.

"Hey, boss, get this Deathclaw off of me, quick…" The obnoxious woman whispered gently as a Deathclaw slashed at her.

I turned around to the man about to ask how he knew my name. His face was ghoulified as his legs burned away on the sand.

"Come back and fight!" He croaked at me, barely lifting up his arm to yell at me.

I looked at him in his bleeding eyes and shook my head, turning around and sprinting at the train as the Alpha Deathclaw ran towards me.

"SARAH!" The man screamed at me as the Deathclaws walked slowly to him, and tore him to shreds.

I looked ahead at the train as it speeded straight down the railroad, the back cart almost at my fingertips, but slipping away slowly as I ran out of breath. Behind me, the Deathclaws finished off the ghoulish man, and were running after me in a hoard of impending death. As I panted and coughed, holding out my arm at the back of the train, I saw a hand reach out and pull me up.

Ulysses looked at me and sat me down as he closed the door on the Deathclaws.

"Are you okay, Sarah?" Ulysses asked me as he snapped my fingers.

"I know him." I muttered as I closed my eyes.

"Sarah, listen to me, you're bleeding everywhere and you need a stimpak. Stay here." Ulysses said as he walked quickly away.

"He knows me and I know him." I continued to mumble.

I closed my eyes again, falling over at the dinner table as the train bumped through the tracks. A loud crash next to me awoke me in an instant, and made me look up at the ceiling. I turned to the side doors and struggled to open it, falling to my knees as I completed my task. The dead trees and dust whizzed past my head as the train went faster. I looked up at the door and grabbed the top of the train, pulling myself up to the roof as I investigated the commotion.

Clawing its way onto the train was the Alpha Deathclaw, the greenest, meanest, and deadliest Deathclaw of them all. I aimed my pistol at the beast and fired at its head, making it only crawl up to the top of the speeding train faster. I backed away as it swiped its hand at me, ripping through the plates of my arm guard and slashing through my arm, toppling me off the side as my wounded arm caught onto the railing of the train.

"Sarah!" Joe's voice called for me inside the train as the Alpha Deathclaw walked closer to me. Every time I tried to wretch my arm free only made me scream out in pain louder. The revolver was held barely in my fingertips, so I raised it to the Deathclaw and fired a round into its head, making it open its arms wide to slash them forward.

Before I knew what happened next, a loud crash echoed in my ears. I opened to see that a passing billboard broke off at the Deathclaw's head, knocking it off the ledge so it's claws were held deep into the metal. I pulled back the hammer of the revolver with my left arm and fired a single round at the Deathclaw, knocking it off and jettisoning it into the ground as the train zoomed away from it.

I holstered the revolver and pulled my arm out of the loop in the railing and leaning back into the dining cart, oozing blood onto the floor as I fell upon it, looking up at Ulysses and Joe as they looked around for what to do.

"I can't stop that much bleeding." Ulysses told Joe.

"Then do something! God, her skin's peeling off!" Joe screamed at him.

"It's almost completely through the arm, it's hanging by a few ligaments." Ulysses told Joe.

"We have to cut it off before she bleeds out. Get my sword in my cart ahead." Ulysses told Joe.

"Oh God, I can't, I can't." Lennie said in a gasp as he walked away.

"No." I mumbled as I tried to roll away. My eyes caught sight of my arm and I screamed at the top of my lungs as I spotted it. The cloth that covered my arms was gone, and my arm's skin was ripping off of me like it was fried bacon fat. My arm was twisted and bent backwards, the bone separated almost completely. I screamed as loud as I could, like I was being stabbed to death in front of everyone.

"Sarah, don't move you're going to be okay." Ulysses told me as Joe ran into the room with Lennie.

"Do we have any medicine so she wouldn't feel this?"

"No time, hold her down." Ulysses instructed them as I wiggled my body.

"NO! NO!" I begged to Lennie and Joe held my head and legs down. Lennie gagged, and looked away as he held me down.

"Sarah, we have to do this!" Joe yelled as I moved as hard as I could.

"NO! DON'T DO THIS!" I yelled as Ulysses aimed the sword at my arm.

"Hold her still, I said!" Ulysses yelled to them as I constrained my body.

Ulysses lifted the sword into the air above my arm as I screamed aloud at him, using my shaking left arm to move Lennie's hands off of it. He turned his head away from me as Ulysses brought down the sword. I slammed my arm up and elbowed Lennie's head away, rolling away as the sword clanked against the metal. Joe looked at me and picked his arm up to constrain me again, but I kicked him in the nose with my boot, getting up and backing away in the corner, holding my bloody arm.

"I can move my fingers..." I sobbed as I stared down at my trembling hand.

The three of them looked at me, with Joe and Lennie having the exception of holding their bloody faces while they stared.

"I can move them..." I muttered as I dropped to the floor, and my vision went to black.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: Motion**

When my body awoke, a sour taste was in my mouth, and my head hurt. Soon, the rest of the pains I felt caught up with my in a moment, and then settled on my now horizontal body. My eyes flickered like the bulbs lighting the room, and I contorted my neck to my sides and then attempted to move. I lifted my torso upwards, making the blurriness of my head more apparent. I looked to my right, and saw my arm wrapped tightly in a bandage with my new arm guard off on that side. I strained to shake my fingers on my arm for a second, and then exhaled violently when I released it. I moved my legs off the bed I was in and got up, looking around to see what happened. I was in the bed cart on the train, and we were still moving as I could see from the small, hazy windows. I limped down the cart, tripping over nothing and resting my left arm and body on the door, breathing heavily as I waited at the door to Ulysses room.

I gripped the door and grunted loudly as I opened it with my arm, now falling to the floor from my victory. I looked to my right, through the open door to see the passing environment that has changed from Louisiana. It was open here, no trees, no buildings, just brown rocks and sand. It was a Barren Wasteland, and so I decided in my head to call it just that. I un-crouched from the floor and held my wounded arm and walked through Ulysses' empty room to the engine room door. I moaned angrily as I opened the door with my good arm that is proving to be nothing of the sort. Inside, were Rilee and Lennie, standing in front of the energy engine that was humming loudly, but not loud enough to beat their voices.

"Do you know what's going to happen when they find out you left Louisiana?" Lennie yelled at her.

"Do you know what was going to happen if I stayed? You heard that guy we're all wanted by the two biggest assholes in America!" Rilee shouted.

"You could have stayed, you could have been way better off than what's been happen-" Lennie and Rilee stopped fighting to turn to me, while their angered faces turned to shock as they ran to me.

"ZOMBIE! Oh, wait, no, it's Sarah!" Lennie smiled as he patted me on the shoulder while Rilee stood behind him with her arms crossed.

"I didn't know you'd be walking!" Lennie laughed.

"I'm trying my best." I said as I smiled lightly back at them.

"I take it we're out of Louisiana?" I asked them.

"Yeah, we left." Lennie scoffed, looking disappointingly at Rilee.

"We're in Texas, I think." Rilee told me, ignoring the stare by Lennie.

"You should go to the front. I'm sure that Joe and Ulysses would want to know you didn't get your ass kicked completely." Rilee smiled as she slapped my hurt arm.

"You bitch." I winced.

"You're a tough chick, you'll get through it." Rilee smiled back as she pointed to a small door at the front of the engine room.

I walked to the door and opened it, faster than before, and walked out to an everlasting breeze that refreshed my entire body. I lumbered to the front of the train, on a little platform with a railing in front of it that Joe and Ulysses were leaning on, staring ahead at the tracks.

"And why does wearing a flag on your back help you not get shot at?" Joe asked him, turning his head back to see the back of his new duster, only to be sidetracked with the sight of me standing behind the two. Joe stared widely at me and walked forward, diverting Ulysses' attention to where he was looking. Joe's face lit up as the two walked to me and hugged me warmly.

"Surprised?" I asked them.

"Not really. You're father pulled the same prank back in the day." Joe smiled at me.

"Hey, your voice sounds different." I pointed politely at his more strained and deep voice that was covered up by his neck.

"Maybe he hit puberty." Ulysses sighed as he crossed his arms.

"Ah, dammit, he got me." Joe sighed.

"What happened to me?" I asked them.

"After you passed out, we stitched up your arm and gave you a blood transfusion. It turns out that you were right, your arm was still connected, although it didn't look like it. You made a mess in the back cart." Joe told me.

"I'm sorry about almost amputating you." Joe said afterwards.

"It's okay." I nodded.

"So who gave me the blood transfusion?" I asked them.

"It doesn't matter." Ulysses said.

"So are you saying it was neither of you?" I waited on them, putting a hand on my hip.

"Still doesn't matter." Joe shrugged.

"Why won't you tell me?" I pestered.

"Look, the only thing that matters now is that we're all okay, and we'll be in Nevada in no time. Plus, this is the only fun I'm going to have on this ride." Joe smiled as he slapped my hurt arm playfully.

"Why..." I jeered.

"My bad." Joe apologized.

"We're going to be traveling for a few days, so get used to it. We're going to have to ration the rest of our gecko. Lennie's going to be in charge of that." Joe informed me.

"Rilee will be making sure the train's running, so if you have any questions, go to her. Ulysses will be working on new armor for us after what happened to you, so start searching the rest of the train for scrap parts." Joe added.

"What are you going to be doing?" I asked him.

"Me? I'm going to be seeing what happens if I spit while out here." He nodded as he walked away to the front of the train.

I turned away from Joe and nodded at Ulysses, saying, "Thanks."

"For what?" He asked me.

"I figured out what happens!" Joe shouted a few feet away from us.

"For pulling me in." I continued to speak.

"You're welcome." He nodded.

"You see? You're a good person, Ulysses. That's why you gave me that blood transfusion, right?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't give you the transfusion." Ulysses shook his head.

"Everyone on this train would have, though." He added.

"Whatever." I swayed around with my left arm as I turned away.

"Ew! I did it again and it hit my face!" Joe yelled as I walked away.

"Who was he?" Ulysses asked as I grabbed onto the door and pulled it open.

"Who?" I asked him as I held the door open for him..

"You said you knew a man while I pulled you in. Who were you talking about?" Ulysses asked me.

"It's up my nose, now!" Joe snorted as we shut the door on him.

"While I was running to the train, the man who had Rilee at gunpoint called for me by name. I know him." I said as I motioned at Rilee.

"He heard us calling for you, Sarah, not by name. That's it." Rilee told me.

"No, I know him from somewhere." I confirmed.

"I know you'd like to think you're special and all, but let me tell you something..." Rilee said, leaning into me.

"I'm _way_ more special than you." She told me.

"If you saw what happened, then you should have seen that I was alive. You should have known that I was going after the train and you should have known that I couldn't catch up." I said at her.

"Why?" I asked after.

"Why what?" Rilee sneered.

"Why is it that Ulysses was the only person who came for me? Where was everyone else?" I asked.

"Where were you?" I asked her coldly.

"Come on, Sarah, you don't need to worry about that." Ulysses eased, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't care anymore." I said, shoving the hand off of me and walking away.

"Good." Rilee grunted as she returned to the controls of the train.

I walked out of the room, leaving Ulysses and Rilee in the engine room for themselves. As I rammed open the next door, I passed out on a bed, smelling the dead bodies that once laid on it, but since my departure from my senses, have been moved away and cleansed of the impurities. I panted and screamed into the pillow out of a mix of anger and pain. Soon, I calmed down and eventually found myself sleeping on it, yet never planning to do it.

I awoke to my body's inner earthquakes signaling me to get up. The sun was down, and my energy was still out, but hunger called for action. The yellow lights in the otherwise dark cart made the atmosphere seem moody, peaceful, calm, and even...given the circumstances. I couldn't help but smiling at the yellow lanterns illuminating my footsteps as I walked to the dinner cart. I kept smiling until I opened the door, exerting my left arm's force to open the door to the group passing out small plates and half empty glasses of water to each other. I sat down, and everyone didn't seem to notice, in fact, they didn't seem to be as happy as I was.

"What's wrong?" I asked them as they silently dug into their scraps — a silence so empowering that the hums and chugs of the engine seemed oblivious to the ears.

"Are you okay?" Joe asked me.

"Yeah... I'm fine." I assured them.

"You got up in your sleep and said that you put Carrie in her coma." He told me.

"What?" I asked him.

"You said you chose over yourself to put her in a coma. That was pretty weird. You also tried to punch Ulysses in the throat. I-I don't get how those two were related." Joe said.

"My throat's fine by the way." Ulysses added.

"When?" I asked him.

"Just now." He said.

"Care to explain?" Ulysses asked me.

"Stay out of this." Joe ordered him.

"Uh, sleepwalking?" I shrugged with a light smile.

"Sarah, that's not funny. You said some weird shit, like, _clown_ weird." Joe shook his head.

"It's not a joke, I know." I told him.

"Just forget it, what ever happened, happened." Joe said as he gave me a plate of food.

"Eat up, you need it." He added.

"So... uh, how about them... Deathclaws?" Lennie asked everyone awkwardly.

"Hate 'em." Everyone at the table said at once and continued to eat in silence.

"Nice conversation, guys." Lennie nodded awkwardly at his failed attempt at small talk as he drank the rest of his water.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: Conversation Killer**

"When are we going to be in Nevada?" Lennie asked Rilee at dinner a few days later.

"By the way we're going, a few weeks. We're a little bit into Texas, I think." Rilee said.

"Oh yeah, you got your maps back?" Lennie asked Ulysses and I.

Ulysses pulled up his Pip-Boy as I looked sadly down at my right wrist, continuing to cut with my left arm, and dropping and picking up a fork to eat the gecko.

"Something's wrong, it shouldn't be out still." Ulysses said as he looked at his Pip-Boy.

"Maybe it'll be back in Nevada." Rilee mumbled with her mouth full.

"Maybe..." He said.

"I didn't know you had a family, Joe." Rilee said, trying to start up another conversation.

"Yeah, I do." He said.

"Any kids?" She asked.

"Fou-uh, three girls." He stuttered in response.

"Their names are Carrie, Casey, and Jessica." Joe added.

I bit a piece of food, and chewed it, taking in the flavor of the meal. With every bite, I felt a pain in the back of my head. I tried to ignore it, but the pain became so ferocious that I put my fork down for the moment.

"Why Jessica?" Rilee asked Joe.

"Honestly? No idea why I made her name start with a 'J'." Joe answered with a shrug.

"Nice." Lennie smiled.

"Thanks for the food." I said quickly, putting my dishes in the pile for Lennie to wash.

"What's the rush?" Lennie asked.

"I'm just tired." I said, walking to the door and grabbing it.

"You've been sleeping for a week, I doubt it." Rilee said with a smirk.

"I'm just not feeling good, that's all." I told them.

"You're not?" Ulysses asked me as he got up.

"Did you get hurt anywhere else?" He asked as he checked my head.

"I just want to sleep." I stated sternly, removing his hands from my head.

The train bumped violently on the tracks, sending me crashing towards the ground as Ulysses slipped backwards. The force of the crash made Rilee jump to attention, and she ran past us towards the front of the train. I yelped in pain, for I had landed on my arm, and now, I had another thing to complain about as Ulysses helped me up.

"What the hell was that?" Joe asked as he got up frantically.

"It's Logan! He found us!" Lennie screamed.

"Calm down, Chicken Little." Rilee eased him.

"Is… is that a penis joke?" Lennie asked her.

"No." She answered.

"Let's just go see what we hit." Joe said as he guided us to the front of the train, where Rilee slowed the train to a stop.

"You see what we hit?" Joe asked her.

"Some debris, or maybe the rails are getting into rough condition." Rilee answered as she looked outside via a small window to the right.

"We've got company." Rilee warned us as she pointed to a band of four legged creatures racing towards us from the right.

"I'll handle this." Ulysses said as he held onto his bow.

"No, we all will." I told him as I looked seriously into his eyes.

"Okay." He complied as the train hissed and popped finally.

Joe opened the door and we all aimed our weapons at the band of people as they casually got off their horses.

"Don't take another step, Eastwood." Rilee instructed at the person closest to us as they unsaddled their mount and walked from the darkness towards the light of the train.

It was a female ghoul, all of them were. They wore brown dusters and had different weaponry that I haven't seen before, all seeming to be made of iron and wood. The woman in front had patches of short red hair, and was the only one with a brown cowboy hat that matched the duster. They got off their four legged creatures of the night that were just as rotted as they were. The things they rode on were saddled, and had four legs with two small arms coming from the long neck. Patches of hair came down from the back of the long head, and from the back of it's equally as long spine. They snorted disgustedly at our presence.

"Calm down, we're not here to hurt you." The woman said innocently as she walked towards us.

"Stop right there, cowgirl, or we'll pop a cap so far up your ass you'll need a telescope to help you find it. Seriously, it's tough to get out." Joe threatened.

"Fair enough, we were just here to assist you in your journey. We heard about you all, and we're honored to help you." She told us in a raspy, yet welcoming tone.

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh God, what happened to you?" She asked me.

"You don't see me asking the same to you." I snapped back.

"You'vegot cuts all over your body... bruises, and... are there burn marks on your clothes?" The woman asked me.

"This is none of your business. Answer the question, why do you want to help us?" I forced her with my iron.

"Well, we saw you hit that stuff, and you didn't seem to pay any mind to it, so we went to investigate, that's when we realized it was your group, the one being chased down." The woman answered.

"Ulysses, go check out the place where we hit." Joe said quickly as he continued to aim his weapon at her. Ulysses lowered his bow and walked down the tracks in the night.

"It's dark out, and you can only see a maximum of 10 meters at this time a' night." Lennie called her out.

"Well, a speeding train with lights all over it crashing through the wastes is a telltale sign of something out of the ordinary." The woman responded coldly.

"I-I... uhm..." Lennie stuttered.

"I don't trust her, guys." Lennie decided after a minute of stutters.

"If you wanted to help, why are you traveling with a posse of people with powerul guns?" Rilee asked her.

"I take it you've been through something like this before, haven't you?" The woman asked.

"What do you want?" I asked her angrily.

"Well first things first, we can help you out with those cuts and that arm of yours." The woman said to me with a chapped smile.

"I don't need your help." I told her.

"Sarah, I fainted during your surgery, I honestly have no idea how you're even still connected to that thing." Joe confessed.

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine now." I told them.

"Is that why those wounds are infected?" The woman questioned.

I answered with a glare.

"You have about a few weeks until your body shuts down from that infection, if you still don't want our help that's fine, we'll see how far you'll get without it." The woman said as she turned around and walked to her mount.

"What are you going to do?" I asked her reluctantly.

The woman turned around to me and walked forward to me, saying "We'll disinfect your cuts and make sure your arm can move."

"What do you guys think?" I asked them.

"No." Lennie said.

"Go ahead." Rilee sighed as she aimed at the woman's hat.

"If it means you'll get the help you need, then go ahead." Joe agreed.

"How much will this be?" I asked her.

"We'll see how much you owe us after we're done with you. Stay right here, people. We'll bring her back, we promise." She smiled as we lowered our weapons.

I walked nervously towards her and walked along with her towards their horses as the rest of the ghouls walked behind us.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Sherry." The woman attempted to smile with her lip rotted off on the left side.

"You think he really wants me to go with you guys?" I asked her.

"Your friend Joe knows how much you need this, and he'll go against his better judgment to help you accomplish that." The woman said as she patted her mount.

"I don't think I said his name." I questioned uneasily.

"What?" The woman asked.

"SARAH!" Joe shouted as he and Ulysses ran towards me.

"What's wrong?" I asked them as Sherry turned around with me.

"The thing we hit wasn't debris, it was a roadblock." Ulysses told me.

"They knew we were coming this whole time, they're Logan's men." Ulysses told me.

"You're wrong." The woman declared.

I turned to Sherry and aimed my pistol at her as Lennie and Rilee ran to us. The ghouls took out their weapons and aimed them at us angrily.

"Who are you?! What do you want with us?" I shouted at her.

"We're here for the kids, that's all. We can make a deal and clear your bounty if you give us the two young ones." The woman answered normally.

"Well you're going to have a problem with that, cowpoke." Joe threatened.

"Heh. That was a southern joke." Joe chuckled to himself. "You guys like that one?"

"It's tasteful." Lennie nodded.

"We'll see who the victor is eventually, Marston." Sherry told me.

Sherry smacked my arm to the side, making me fire into one of her posse member's chest. Ulysses and Joe then fired into two of the women as Lennie popped off a headshot from behind us. I was kicked in the upper abdomen by her, with the next foot flying into my head, dropping us both with her double leg drop kick. I dropped my pistol on the sand from the drop and coughed from my lungs being rocked by the force of the ground. Sherry held my right arm down and made me scream as the gunfight continued above us. I swung my foot around and kicked her off of me, backing away from her by kicking the ground. I sat myself against a chunk of metal sticking out from the ground. Nest to me was a metal pole, roughly the size of my arm. I picked it up and used it to get me to my feet while Joe and Ulysses took cover on the other metals around us as they were shot with revolvers and other weaponry. I ran at Sherry as she was on the ground and brought the pole down to her. She caught it in an instant and used it to flip me onto the ground as I stupidly held onto the pole. Now, on the ground, with Sherry atop of me, we resumed our struggle with the control of the pole. She forced the horizontal facing pole towards my neck as my left arm couldn't defend and my right arm only laid there. It soon went against my neck and started to crush me as I tried to get myself out of the pin. I could feel the blood flowing to my head as she crushed my neck, and the only thing I could do now was look to my sides, where Rilee aimed a backup pistol at the women. I let my left arm off of the pole in a final stand and let it go out to Rilee as my gurgles called out for her.

Her eyes met mine, and a small equation played out in her head as she looked at my problem, and hers. Rilee then aimed her pistol up and fired at the remaining women, neglecting me entirely as she resumed fighting. My eyes then met with Sherry as my fingers twisted and flexed as I tried to get out of my situation. As my air soon ran out, I kicked my legs once, and then directed them at Sherry, pushing them as hard as I could against her. She flipped off of me and let go of the pole, and I turned over to the sand and coughed sickly on the ground as I held my head in pain. I looked ahead at her, and got up and ran as fast as I could at her as Sherry got up and sprinted to her horse. I limped slowly at her as Sherry climbed the saddle and galloped away from the battle, leaving me chasing her slowly.

"Get back here! Get back here you son of a bitch!" I choked as I threw the pole a few feet in front of me and missed her.

Next to me, Ulysses' bow went off, and attached itself onto Sherry's back, and yanked her off of her mount, sending her towards us into the ground. Ulysses and I ran to her, and held her at gunpoint.

"That wasn't a smart idea, Sherry." I told her weakly.

"What do you want?" She asked weakly.

"Answers." I told her.

"We've been trained never to give ourselves away, so if you think for a second that I will-"

Ulysses retracted the bow from her shoulder, ripping the knife back through her skin and bone and back into the crossbow.

"AAAAAAHHRGH!" She screamed into the air as the blood splattered all over the sand.

"You have an hour until you bleed out." He said to her as he turned around.

"Let's bring her back to the train, we'll figure out what to do then." Ulysses told me.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Talk**

**"**What do you want with us?" Rilee asked Sherry on the train.

"Untie me and I'll tell you, partner." She answered as she tried to wiggled herself free from her metal-trap.

"No can do, '_partner_'." Rilee told her.

"I take it you're the leader, huh?" She asked him as we all looked down at her.

"There's no leader. We make our decisions together, although I _am _the poster boy of our group." Joe answered as he flexed.

"Yeah, that means _a lot_ coming from you." Sherry said sarcastically.

"Are you going to answer our questions, or are you going to continue to change the subject to protect yourself?" Ulysses asked her as he bent down to her level.

"You're the smart one here, huh?" Sherry asked him weakly as she licked her bloody lips.

"A commonwealth flag, huh? Haven't seen one of those in a while." She said tiredly, turning away and looking off to nothing.

"How do you know what this is?" He asked her.

"You'd like to think you're the brains of this operation, but imma' tell you something," Sherry told him, turning her head slowly to finish the last part of her sentence "We know more than you could ever imagine."

"You know nothing." He said to her.

"I know that you're the cause of the d-"

Ulysses punched her in the face and grabbed her shirt, making Joe pull him off of her.

"We need her alive!" Joe yelled at him.

"Well since your star student over there gave me an hour of bleedout time, I'm sure he's just trying to hasten the inevitable." Sherry sighed.

"Everyone, just calm down. Let Ulysses and I take care of this." I told them.

"And what are you going to do? Fall on top of me angrily?" Sherry insulted.

"Maybe she's into that kind of thing." Lennie mumbled as he walked away, leaving Ulysses facing a corner, and me facing Sherry.

"I need to step outside. You can handle this." Ulysses said as he walked out of the room.

"That's fine." I told him.

"Come back with a hacksaw, please." Sherry called tiredly as she stared at the corner of the armory.

"You've got about forty minutes. You might as well make your death mean something." I told her.

"It already has." She answered.

"I don't know if you noticed, but you're in an armory. If you want, we can use what we have on you." I told her.

"You won't do it." She told me.

"And what makes you think that?" I asked her.

"Because I know you, Sarah." Sherry said, turning to me and looking through her bruised eyes into mine.

"You don't know me." I said angrily, walking away from her.

"Sarah Marston, born 32 years, 112 days ago in Megaton, Virginia." Sherry said quickly as I faced the door, feeling the vibrations of the now running train engine.

"Daughter of Jace and Veronica Marston. Closest friend: Joe Pockneyo. Admriable feats: _none_." She said coldly.

"What else do you know about me?" I asked, enraged by her knowledge.

"I know that you were too afraid to follow your father into the battle that resulted in his death. And I know that you were too afraid to shoot the man who murdered your mother. I also know you like long walks on beaches." Sherry told me with a wry smile.

"I know that you were too afraid to leave your birthplace ever since that moment, only to go out in a rebellious phase that lasted a few months until ultimately ending completely… until now." Sherry added.

"I know you, Sarah Marston. I know you won't do anything to me." Sherry tested.

"Let me tell you something." I told her.

"I'm not the person who you think I am." I stared at her, opening the door with my shaking hand.

"And who are you, Sarah?" She asked me.

"I'm the person who saved Megaton." I told her.

"From what? An atomic blast? The last time I checked, that place was smoldering ashes and a cloud of dust." Sherry pestered.

"My question is, why are you all going out to—wherever you are?"

"Because, we have to." I said.

"There's only two reasons why people would get into the trouble you have: it's either you're running from someone, or you're running from _yourself_."

"I'm doing this because I can, because it's what any person to do, especially a hero like my father." I told her.

"Face it, you're not a hero. You're not the hero who your parents were. You're a failure... and the only reason you're out here is because you still think you can prove yourself otherwise." She told me.

"You haven't seen anything compared to my leader, you haven't seen nothin'." Sherry spat at my feet.

I turned to her and clenched her throat with my arm, opening my mouth and grinding my teeth openly at her calm face.

"Do you want to know what I've seen?!" I cried as I punched her in the face.

"Do you want to know who I've lost?!" I shouted as I punched her bloody face three more times.

"I've seen my friends turn on me," I shouted as I kicked her in the teeth. "I've seen my family die over and over again." I yelled, punching her with every word.

"I've seen what happens if I don't do this!" I yelled as I punched her in the cheek, knocking her over to the metal floor.

"You don't know what I've seen..." I told her as I stared angrily down at her bloody.

"I've seen you turn into a coward...and _wow_, can you _be_ more dramatic? We're just talking no need to go die-hard on me." Sherry croaked from her blood-cloaked face.

I clenched my fist and ran at her as Ulysses opened the door, seeing what happened and running at me, pulling me away from her.

Ulysses pushed me away from her and stared at me like I was a monster.

"You...can't trust him... Sarah... he... lies... to you..." Sherry warned me from the floor will bloody coughs.

"Marge will get you all... before you even know it..." Sherry said, her voice breaking out into a gasp.

"We'll see." Ulysses told her.

"You...know...nothing." Sherry said with a final exhale, and closing her cut up eyes.

"I obviously knew more than you." Ulysses talked downward to her respectfully.

Ulysses turned back to me and stared into my eyes, forcing an answer from me as I stared back, not giving it to him.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39: Falling Apart**

"What was that noise?" Lennie asked as he opened up the door from the dinner cart.

"Aw she's, she's dead isn't she?" He asked as he looked at the body.

"Yes." Ulysses said to him.

"Well what happened?" Lennie asked us.

"Oh... I just spotted the blood. Okay, uh, nevermind." Lennie said as he looked at my hand.

"Why?" He asked me.

"My question exactly." Ulysses agreed.

"It doesn't matter." I told them as I walked to the dinner cart.

"You just beat a woman to death, are you trying to tell me you did that for no reason?" Ulysses asked me as he followed me in there.

"And please don't say 'yes', that'd be weird." Lennie added.

"What's done is done, okay?" I decided as I washed my hand off with a spare bottle of water. After I was done, I dried my hand off with a cloth in the cart.

Lennie looked at my bleeding knuckles and said, "You know, I haven't seen a person get beaten to death before, so-"

"We know who leads them and that's all I got." I said to them as I turned around and faced them.

"We could have gotten more from he-"

"Look! She knows _everything_ about us! And the only reason she told me was to-"

We heard a loud scraping noise that diverted our attention to one another until we all simultaneously dove for the door to the armory. Ulysses ripped it open to the sight of loose chains and a blood smear that lead to the open side door. Lennie ran to the door and poked his head outside the moving train and looked around quickly.

"She's gone." He announced.

"Really?" Ulysses asked him as he sighed and shook his head.

"We should have seen this coming, man." Lennie said as he closed the door, cutting off the rippling wind and returning to the same level of sound we were accustomed to on the train.

"She said her boss was named 'Marge'. We know how they dress and how they act, so we can use this for an advantage." Ulysses decided as he crossed his arms and leaned against a wall.

"That's not the only thing she said." I muttered.

"You seriously didn't believe anything she said, did you?" Ulysses asked me.

"Sarah, she manipulated you so she could escape. She's just trying to turn ourselves against each other." Ulysses said.

"Yeah, uh, I'm with him on this one, Sarah. She didn't talk shit about me, did she?" Lennie agreed as he walked closer to him.

"I'll ask Rilee about it, then. Let's see what she has to say about all this." I told them as I walked to the door and opened it.

"Not a good idea, bro-miga. I don't know if you noticed this before, but, uh, she's kinda crabby... to put it lightly." Lennie informed me.

I ignored him and closed the door behind me, continuing the grueling process of opening several more rusted doors until I made it into the engine room, where Joe and Rilee were at.

"Once we're in Texas, they won't be a problem anymore. We're not _that_ worth it, right?" Joe asked her.

"I don't know about you, but _I_ am." Rilee complimented with pride.

I walked to her, and turned her away from the controls with my left arm, and forced her into eye contact with me.

"Why are you here?" I asked her angrily.

"Because I love trains?" Rilee raised a brow at the question.

"_Why are you with us_?" I asked her again.

"Why are you asking me this?" Rilee asked me.

"Because you left me to die an hour ago!" I shouted at her.

"I had to keep fighting, or I would have died! You're fine now, aren't you?!" Rilee yelled back.

"No. You could have saved me, but you chose not to, _again_!" I yelled.

"You want to know why I left you back there? Is that it?" She asked me ferociously.

"I left you because you're the weakest link we have here. You heard that lady, you're going to die if we don't get you help! What's the point?!" Rilee exclaimed.

"And you automatically decided that helping me was out of the question?" I asked.

"We make decisions _together,_ remember? If I wanted to die, I would have done it ages ago. If _you_ wanted me to die, you would have done exactly what you did." I told her off.

"Well maybe someone should be making those decisions already." Rilee threatened.

"If you make another decision without us again, you'll die." I coerced.

"Now, answer me." I told her in a low, serious tone.

"I can't go back to Louisiana." She answered me.

"Now why are you _actually_ here?" I asked her.

Rilee stared at me for a moment and stroked back her black hair so it wouldn't cover her heavy eye-lined eyes.

"Because Lennie's with you." She confessed.

"And this is the last time I help either of you." She told me in a matched voice.

"What are you talking about? You never helped me!" I interrogated.

"What is she talking about?" I ordered Joe as I grabbed onto his shirt.

"Rilee's the one who gave you your blood transfusion." Joe informed me.

"What is this about, Sarah?" Joe asked me as I turned away from Rilee.

"She's knows everything about us." I said as I faced the door.

"She knows our names, where we were born, she even knows about Ulysses' past, I think." I said to them.

"Don't you mean 'knew'?" Joe asked me.

"She escaped." I said.

"Well she can't get far, right? She was bleeding out in the first place, she'll probably drop dead at any moment." Joe calmed us.

"They're a band of doctors. If her people found her, she can be up in a matter of days, and she'll be bringing friends after us." Rilee told him.

"They probably are right now." Joe sighed.

"We're going to need Ulysses to make this train more defendable in the next few days. I'll tell him." Joe said.

"I'll go with you." I said quickly as he opened the door.

Joe closed the door behind us as we walked through Ulysses' workshop, where was sitting on his workbench, taking apart a revolver with forceps and other tools he must have found in the toolbox.

"We need your help." Joe told him.

"What do you need?" Ulysses asked him.

"Marge's men are going to be here any day now, and we're going to need your help in making this train take something other than the crap it's running on." Joe told him.

"We can clear out the windows and scrap the floors to make a barrier we can shoot from." Ulysses told him.

"Do we have enough weapons?" I asked him.

"No." He said disappointingly.

"What are we going to do?" I asked him.

"I'll think of something. Get some rest, Sarah. You need it." He told me.

"Right." I said to him as I walked to the door.

"I'll get it for you." Joe told me as he opened the door up to the next room.

"I'm sorry." I told Joe as he closed the door behind us.

"It's fine."

"It's just... Sherry said I couldn't trust them."

"Since when did you listen to her?" He asked me.

"I don't know..." I told him as we walked to the next door.

"Look, I've come to cope with the fact that you're not the little girl that I saw in her crib anymore, but Rilee's got a point. Someone needs to start making the hard decisions from now on, otherwise what happened back there will happen again, and it won't be as pretty." Joe said, motioning to the cars behind us.

"Alright, we'll decide tomorrow." I told him with a nod.

"I haven't seen my crib in a while, what happened to it?" I asked him.

"I broke it." Joe confessed quietly.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40: The Undecided**

I woke up the next day because I turned onto my arm, and it sent the shock all the way to my brain, making me jump awake. I rubbed my eyes and lifted myself up, looking over at my sore arm.

The base bandage was red and yellow, and the surrounding cuts were yellowed and crusted. I felt weak, even after getting to my feet and walking around. It hurt to do anything, and opening the door to the armory strained every muscle I never knew existed on my body, and continuing to walk proved strenuous. I opened the door to the dining car, where Lennie was washing our plates and utensils.

"Mornin'. You missed breakfast." Lennie informed me.

"Great." I said, almost in a whisper.

"You okay? You ain't lookin' so good. You… _aren't looking_ so good." Lennie told me.

"I just woke up. And why'd you repeat it?"

"I want to sound smarter, like you guys." Lennie said with a nod.

"Ah, and how was your slumber, little bear?"

"Awful." I told him.

"Could be worse, I figured out I was sleeping next to a loose finger last night... at least I _hope_ it was a finger…."

"I feel better already." I smiled as I sat down at a chair and put my head down.

"See, it could've been a penis." Lennie informed me.

"I figured that part out, thanks." I nodded.

Lennie lifted up a plate. "Here, I saved you some food. It ain't much, but neither is my d-"

"... never mind." Lennie said quickly after a pause.

"Thanks, Len." I smiled as I forked the food.

"Sure thing. Just hope you remember this for tonight." Lennie nodded with a wink.

"What's happening tonight?" I asked him like I didn't care.

"We're all voting for who wants to be Captain Badass, or Lieutenant Awesome, we'll see what I decide if I win ." Lennie explained

"Professor South! That's gonna be my codename if I become leader." Lennie added.

"Spectacular." I sighed, leaning closer to my food so I wouldn't have to waste my energy lifting my arm up.

"You have any water?" I asked him.

"Uh, yeah, I think I can spare some for my pal." Lennie winked again.

"Just get me something to drink, Professor." I moped.

"Any sign of Marge's people?" I asked him.

"Nah, but Ulysses has been preparing us for an ambush by 'em." Lennie said as he handed me a glass of water, returning to a cloth that he uses to dry the dishes.

"I mean... he's doing nothing, absolutely nothing to benefit anyone, and you shouldn't go talk to him about any upcoming events." Lennie said quickly.

"Thanks for the food." I said, giving him an empty glass and plate.

I turned away and opened the door, closing it to Lennie mumbling, "Shouldav' offered to open the door. Stupid, Lennie."

I walked through to Ulysses' workshop, falling over on the open door to breathe rapidly.

"Are you alright?" Ulysses asked as he sprang up and offered his shoulder.

"I'm fine, I just needed a breather." I gasped as I grabbed onto his shoulder.

"So... what are you doing?" I asked him whilst still out of breath.

"Removing the windows so we can shoot through them. After that... I'll see if I can add more armor to this thing from the outside." Ulysses told me.

"From the outside?" I asked.

"We can't afford to stop, so I'll just make the improvements while we're running — er, driving." Ulysses stuttered.

"You need any help?" I asked him.

"No, you need to get rest. You're pale, did you eat?" Ulysses asked me.

"Yeah, I just did." I said.

"Then don't be moving around. From what we've seen, you need your strength." Ulysses advised.

"I can't just sit around, Ulysses. You know that." I shook my head.

"I used to know what that felt like, but that time has came and passed. You need to tell yourself that there's nothing you can do."

"Did you hear about the vote?" I asked, sitting down in Ulysses' chair as he resumed in removing the windows with a screwdriver.

"Yes." He answered.

"What do you think of it?" I questioned.

"It's useless. We have other matters to worry about, like the two people who put us on their most wanted list, not who's allowed to tell everyone what to do." Ulysses answered.

"If there's anything I know, it's that making the decisions for everyone will corrupt them." He said, turning around for a moment to say this to me, turning back around to the window after.

"We can't turn into the people who we're fighting or we'll lose sight of what's important." Ulysses added.

"Yeah, I understand." I said, resting my head on my arm that was positioned on his workbench.

"The reason these people are dangerous is because someone leads them." He said.

"Like your normal slavers and raiders, they aren't as powerful anymore because their leaders have been removed. I know this for a fact." Ulysses said, waving the screwdriver in the air.

"How do you know?" I asked him.

"Because I've witnessed a powerful faction fall apart at my hands."

"How?"

"I was a slave once." Ulysses told me as he removed the window panel and set it down on the floor.

"You were?" I asked him, sounding surprised, given my circumstances.

"I was put into The Pitt when I was younger, so I could end the troubles that were brought there."

"I was almost put there once." I told him.

"What happened?" He asked.

"A Super Mutant Colossus happened."

"You're lucky. Death would have been the only thing you would have earned there." He said morosely.

"What was it like?" I questioned.

"You breathed radiation day and night. If you got so much as a scratch, you would have been living with it for the rest of the week, because that's how long people last. The Pitt was a city of slaves run by a man named Ashur, who used the slaves to mine him iron."

"What happened to him?"

"I made sure he wouldn't be a problem."

"How'd you do that?" I asked.

"He had a baby." Ulysses told me quietly.

"If you have a child, you would do anything to make sure they wouldn't be hurt... and I knew that." He said.

I looked down at the ground for a moment, and then turned my neck back at him.

"You threatened his baby?"

"No. I had a choice. It was either make a threat, or make sure that baby would grow up without a father."

"I'm not proud of what I did, but it was every bit necessary to make sure The Pitt would be no more." Ulysses added to his words, making sure I would listen by turning his neck and saying it to me face.

"The Pitt's gone, and that's all that matters. It's just another thing I have to bear with for the rest of my days." He said.

"I'm sorry." I told him.

"Don't ever feel sorry for me." He said sternly as he went to the next window.

"So what weapons do we have available?" I asked him.

"The ghoul had a bandolier of .357 ammunition when we searched her, along with a magnum. We also have the weapons from Logan's men in the armory. Some .308s, a nine millimeter, and the guns we have on ourselves now." He informed me.

"That's not going to be enough." I sighed.

"I know... I'm trying to fashion some junk rounds on my workbench from the refuse we have lying around." Ulysses said like that would help, motioning to the bench I was laying on, where a bunch of tweezers and bullet casings were lying around.

"How's the progress?"

"Slow. The bullets are too light and they can fire from the weapon with the amount of scrap I have on it." Ulysses said.

"I'm asking Joe to gather some more for me." He added.

"I'll help." I said eagerly, getting up.

"_No._" He snapped.

"You need rest, or you're going to get hurt." Ulysses said seriously.

"I feel fine, Ulysses. I'll just say 'hi' to him and then I'll go to sleep, I promise." I told him.

"Fine, only because Joe will tell you the same thing I did." Ulysses said as he returned to his work.

"Good." I smiled as I opened the door to the next room.

"You're getting your strength back. Good." Ulysses nodded at how fast I ripped open the door.

"At least I know I'd be an arm wrestling champion if I wasn't being hunted down every five seconds." I smiled sarcastically as I walked to the next room.

I ignored Rilee and continued to the balcony of the car, where Joe was leaning over the rail and yacking up phlegm in his throat as he coughed loudly over the chugs of the train.

"That cough's getting worse. You should see Ulysses." I told him as I walked next to him and leaned forward on the rail, pushing my hair back from my eyes.

"Why? So he can slap a bandage on my throat and call it okay?" Joe chuckled afterwards.

"So he can tell you that you're sick." I said, looking over to my right at him.

"I'm just old."

"You're _just_ sick." I said.

"And that's coming from one-armed Sarah?" Joe smiled.

"Not my fault that I saved you from a Deathclaw."

"Kinda is." Joe nodded suggestively.

"Right. That's my bad." I said, putting my hand up in defense and wiggling the fingers on my right arm.

"So what do you think about this voting thing?" I asked him.

"I told you. It's gotta be done. We'll tear each other apart without someone telling us not to." Joe persuaded.

"So what about you? What do you think?" Joe asked me as he squinted an eye to turn to me as his face caught the wind.

"I don't know."

"Well you got about..." Joe lifted up my arm and checked my Pip-Boy as it rested lifelessly on the rail. "five hours."

"Good for me." I exhaled hard.

"So, what are you doing out here? Ulysses said you were helping him." I turned to him.

"Yeah, I say a lot of things... and do them." Joe said, pointing to a pile of scrap behind us.

"How'd you get all that?" I asked him.

"It was just something useless on the wall. No one's used it, so I just took it apart." Joe told me.

"You need help getting more?" I asked him.

"Nope, I'm good for today. You should get some sleep, you're as pale as my ass." Joe told me.

"Thanks for the...mental image." I nodded, turning away and walking back to the door into the train.

"I got it." Rilee said as she opened the door for me.

"Thanks." I said half-heartedly.

"Listen, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for leaving you there. If I could have done both, I would have." Rilee told me.

"It's alright. No harm done, I guess." I told her, looking at my cuts and bruises that yellowed into my skin as the stimpaks did their healing.

"Hey." She called for me as I walked past her.

"Yeah?" I asked her.

"Can you, uh, not tell Lennie about what I said earlier?" She asked me.

"Consider it a secret for us girls." I smiled as I nodded at her.

"Thanks, and don't call me a girl anymore… please." Rilee said, turned around to the controls of the train.

I turned away and yanked the door open to Ulysses' workshop, where he was holding Sherry's magnum out the window while on top of a toolbox, and moving his arm around whilst aiming down the sights.

"How goes it?" I asked him.

"Once I get scrap from Joe I'll be able to fortify the windows here. I'll start working on the windows in the engine room." Ulysses told me as he pulled his arm back inside.

"He's got some already. Ask him for it, he's on the balcony." I told him with a friendly nod.

"Good." Ulysses nodded as he stepped down from his toolbox and picked it up, walking to the engine room with it in hand.

I pulled open the door to the next room, and then shook my head to wake myself up as I walked to the sleeping car, where Lennie was walking fast through the room with his rifle in hand.

"Howdy, Miss Marston." Lennie nodded at me.

"Hey Lennie, what's up?" I asked him.

"My rifle's jammed, so I'm going to Ulysses—uh, I mean, I'm going to fix this myself, because _I_ know how to, and Ulysses doesn't." Lennie stammered.

"Good luck with that. Ulysses is busy anyway." I told him.

"Well it's good that I'm not going to him for help, am I? Because, uh, I'm good at fixing things. I could have fixed this train in an hour if they asked me." Lennie nodded proudly.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I said, turning to my favorite bed and walking to it.

"Did I mention that I used those Deathclaws to save you?" Lennie called after me as I laid down on it.  
"I don't know who I'm voting for, Lennie." I told him with a sigh as I took off my arm guards with my left hand and.

"Right, uh, of course—I mean. It's fine. I'll just be in the workshop, you know—fixing my gun... by myself... and reflecting on all my heroic achievements." Lennie said as he walked away slowly.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41: King of the Train**

"Sarah? Sarah, wake up!" Joe's muffled voice called for me in my bed. I slowly fluttered my eyes, one at a time until I saw Joe, bent over to me with everyone else behind him.

"Oh, thank God." Joe sighed in relief.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"It's time." He told me.

Joe helped me up from my bed and we walked to the dining cart, my mind still not set on being awake.

"You've become a deep sleeper, Sarah. I even used the 'your parents are dead' thing, and you still didn't even wake up!" Joe exclaimed as we walked to the door.

"Sorry... I guess." I yawned as Lennie opened the door, and nodded at everybody as we walked inside.

"Cop-a-squat everybody." Joe told everyone as they took a seat on the dinner table.

"Alright, you all know why we're here... well everyone except Lennie." Joe joked.

"I'm a smart guy!" Lennie defended, moving his head around everyone at the table, so he could get his message across.

"Right. Sure. Anyways... you all know how important this is for us to do-"

"No we don't. There isn't anything glorious about being a leader. You will be hated for every choice you make by someone, and it will eat you up." Ulysses interrupted.

"This isn't something to be taken lightly. The leader needs to be precise," Joe started.

"Me." Lennie mumbled.

"smart,"

"Me."

"and able to make decisions for the better of us all, and it has to be in an instant." Joe finished.

"Uh…." Lennie looked around the room.

"But most of all. They have to keep us together, because that's what most important if we're ever going to make it to Nevada." Joe said, flexing his muscles for no reason.

"They have to have experience, superior instinct... and look great in jeans." Joe said, twisting his lower body to show off his pants.

"Isn't that where you got shot?" Ulysses asked, pointing to a blood stain on his rear.

"My bandages weren't replaced in time." Joe muttered.

"Anyway. We have given this enough thought, and it's time for us to make a decision. You can't vote for yourself, and you need to think about who would give us the best defense-"

"Can you hurry this up already? I've gotta take a crap." Rilee interrupted him.

"Right. Let's go around the table. Rilee, since the princess needs to take her gracious crap, go first." Joe said as he sat down next to me.

"After that Deathclaw shit, I vote for Lennie." Rilee nodded, smiling at Lennie.

"Aw, shoot, thanks, Rilee. Since you were so nice, I vote for you." Lennie nodded.

"Alright. Ulysses?" Joe asked him.

I looked down at the table, my head woozy as I looked around at my feet. My head hurt, so I felt around for a bump where I could have been hit. There wasn't one, and exerting the energy made me even more tired. In an attempt to seem polite, I threw my head up to face the next vote.

"Sarah's gotten us through situations where we could have died. I vote for her." Ulysses said.

"I agree., but you are the guy who saved my family. Ulysses is my vote." Joe said.

"Alright Sarah. You've got the final vote. Who do you want to lead?" Joe asked me.

My eyes slowly looked towards him as I felt a stinging feeling go down my back and to my legs.

"Uh..." I said breathlessly.

"Friendship." Joe whispered eagerly as I looked at him.

"Deathclaws." Lennie nodded with a whispered smirk.

"Shit." Rilee said impatiently as I turned to her.

Ulysses shook his head at the floor when I looked at him.

"I..."

"Sarah?" Joe asked me again in an echo.

My mouth drop for a yawn, and stayed there, even when I tried to pick it back up to a resting state. My neck then felt numb, and began to shake for lifting up my head that seemed like four tons.

"_Sarah? _Remember I look in jeans?" Joe asked me clearly.

"I v... I vote..."

My eyes then closed, and I felt my head falling into the table as Joe called out for me. My body then became numb, and I felt lighter than air as I sit there suspended in darkness.

"Oh, cool, so _she_ gets to abstain?" Lennie asked.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42: The Messenger**

My body glowed awake, blasting me with vigor as my eyes opened up to me being outside in the night. I looked around, cars were parked perfectly in place, with color shining off of them as several other bright, colorful beckoned in the distance.

I was on the ground, with a large man in white on top of me. He pulled me to my feet that adorned high heels with a purple, thin dress. The man then started dragging my across the lot to an ambulance on the other side.

"No." I whispered in a combination of horror and disappointment.

My eyes caught Joe and Carrie, both beautifully dressed, their scars and dirt from battle gone before my eyes as they stared silently in pity at me.

"Joe! Carrie!" I called out to them as they moved me closer to the ambulance.

Joe and Carrie looked sadly upon me, as if they thought this was right. As I was pushed into the ambulance, they both walked away from each other to go back to their night.

The ambulance started up as Ulysses, with his doctor garb on, walked into the back of the box with me, with a clipboard and bag, and faced me.

"I need you to put these on." Ulysses said to me, holding out a pair of handcuffs.

"Ulysses? God, my head hurts." I said in pain, holding my still injured head.

"_Dr. Fredrikson._ And...well, you got tackled to the ground after you tried to run away, so I guess it would hurt. I'm sorry we had to do that, I hope it's just water under the bridge for you." Ulysses said to me.

"No, it's not that. I think there's something wrong." I said to him as Ulysses let the door open for another orderly to watch over me.

"Let me see." He said as he grabbed my head.

"Just a cut. We'll fix you up and give you some medicine. You'll be fine, you'll be taken care of, we promise." Ulysses told me.

"Now, please, Sady. Put these on. It's for your own good." Ulysses said kindly as he held out the handcuffs.

"You already have me, why do I need handcuffs?" I asked him.

"Just please, Sady. Put them on." The orderly said in a kind voice.

I snapped my head to her as she lifted her head to see me, saying, "Well, what if-"

My words stopped when I saw a familiar woman with red, long hair in a white outfit, staring at me.

"Just listen to him." The woman persuaded.

I continued to stare at her until I realized Ulysses was still waiting for me. I looked at him for a moment, and then held out my hands. The cuffs clicked onto my wrists and locked in place as Ulysses left them on you.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Who are you?" I asked her, whilst still in my trance by her familiarity.

"Charlotte." She said with a gentle smile, glancing at the nametag below her that stated just that.

"_You_." I said to her.

"Oh you recognize her? You must have been to the homeless shelter down the road, Charlotte works there. _Do you understand_?" Ulysses asked me.

"Not a good question to ask me right now, I'm going crazy, holy shit, this can't be happening." I sighed in a panic.

"Well, we'll work past that eventually. And if you comply just like you did with those cuffs, you might work your way to something special." Ulysses smiled as he clicked a ballpoint pen.

"And what's that? The gift of letting me end this?" I mimicked his smile in response.

Ulysses sighed and gave me a clipboard, along with the pen, and looked up at me.

"I just need you to fill out these forms so you have been...'acquired' by us." Ulysses said.

"Slow word choosing. Yeah, you're not Ulysses."

"I know. I'm not, Sady." Ulysses nodded.

"I'm in handcuffs, why can't you fill this out yourself?" I asked him.

"I'm letting you choose to fill this out. You know, some people would kill just so they could make decisions for themselves." Ulysses nodded.

"No they wouldn't." I told him in a serious tone as I filled out the paperwork.

"'Past incidents'?" I questioned this.

"It's asking you why you're sitting here with us now." Charlotte smiled.

"I'm here because I was stupid enough to let my head go crazy. I think I just need to eat, or maybe I'm already dead, and this is what my hell is." I told her.

"_Dead_? Sady... do you think you're dead?" Ulysses asked me with a concerned look on his face.

"I know for a fact that I'm dead, or insane in some capacity." I told.

"You know, I don't even know why I'm even doing this. None of it matters, anyway." I scoffed.

"How do you know you're dead, Sady?" Charlotte asked me.

"Because you told me I was." I said to her, not amused at her game.

"When did I ever do that, Sady? I just met you." Charlotte laughed it off.

"I'm glad you're having fun playing stupid, because I should be doing something more important than this shit." I said angrily, giving Ulysses back the clipboard.

"Nothing's more important than getting help." She told me.

"I think that's enough for her. Let her rest. John said she usually falls asleep around this time." Ulysses told Charlotte.

"And what time is it?" I asked him.

"7:14." Ulysses responded.

"This dumbass falls asleep at seven?" I whispered to myself as I bent my head down.

"Come on, Sady. Rest your head here." Charlotte said, patting her hand on a pillow.

"I'm already dead, how can I sleep?" I asked her angrily.

"Just close your eyes." She smiled without showing teeth.

"Do you seriously expect me to go to sleep now? I just died sitting at a table!" I shouted.

"Take it easy Sady. We'll need to give you a CAT scan as soon as we get you there." Ulysses urged me.

"I'm tired of playing her games! Just tell me what I need to know to leave!" I yelled.

"Just do it, Charlotte. She's had a rough night." Ulysses said to her, turning away from me.

"Do what?!" I screamed as Charlotte searched through Ulysses' bag.

"I'm sorry." Charlotte told me as she took out a syringe and jabbed me with it before I could realize what was going on.

"What did you just give me?" I asked her.

"Something to help you rest." Charlotte answered as she turned to the front of the ambulance to speak with the other orderlies.

"I'll... kill you." I mumbled as my eyes closed, and I fell over onto the pillow as Ulysses and Charlotte ignored me and talked to each other as the ambulance drove away. My eyes fell asleep all over again, and my body fell into slumber.

I opened my eyes to Charlotte staring down to me from a chair. I looked wildly around the room, trying to find my bearings in the room I was now in. It was small and rectangular, and seemed like a jail cell, from the looks of the toilet and sink being right next to a single cot.

"Take it easy, you're fine." Charlotte told me.

"Why are you doing this to me, or am I just doing this to myself?" I asked her tiredly.

"Because you need help, Sady. And we're obliged to give it to you, and you'll see that we can take care of you more than John could give you." Charlotte smiled the way she has been, never showing teeth, and widening her lips so they're almost flat.

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"I was expecting that to be the first question." Charlotte smiled.

"Sunshine Boulevard." Charlotte answered after I didn't smile back.

"That's the name of the asylum? Why do these things need to be named so cliché?" I asked like she told me nonsense.

"I feel better already knowing I'm here." I angrily said in a sarcastic manner.

"Look, this place isn't bad, and you'll see that eventually." Charlotte told me.

"_This place isn't bad_? This is the place where I made believed my father killed himself, where my mother wanted to send me after she resented me entirely, where I'm _condemned_ to because I want my last friend to die. You want to tell me that this place isn't bad? It seems like it's supposed to be to me."

"Well if you think this isn't real, then your state shouldn't matter, then. Should it?" Charlotte asked pleasantly back.

"Why are you here?" I asked her angrily.

"You didn't fill out the back page of the forms. I was going to tell you to fill it out yesterday, but I figured you needed the sleep." Charlotte smiled.

"Here" She told me as she gave me the clipboard.

I flipped the papers over and looked at the last page, where black printed words, same in font as the ones behind it, said "Do not speak."

"What is this?" I asked her.

"Just some general questions about what happened when you were sent here and what circumstances led you here." Charlotte told me.

I looked back down at the paper, and continued to read.

The note read, "Our conversation is being recorded right now on holotape. Things have gotten worse for the Abysmal Plane since you left. I am now trapped here, just like you. But also like you, I have a chance of leaving. When you do tell Rilee 'She knows'"

"You can't honestly have me believe this shit, right? This is just ridiculous, can I wake up now?" I asked above me.

"If you can't fill it out, then I'll just leave."

"Here." I said to her, giving her back the clipboard.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Charlotte smiled.

"Your escort around here will be Louis. He'll be here to take you to breakfast at the cafeteria." Charlotte told me as she got up.

"Play your cards right and you'll see the outside again." She smiled as she flipped through the clipboard and wrote something down as she walked away.

I sat there in the cot, looking around for anything to help me, although I knew it were futile. I turned around to the wall where my cot were attached and felt the wall. I tapped my knuckles against it to see how hollow it was. Disappointed, I sighed and let my hand drop against the wall. As my fingers slid against the concrete, I felt small indentations all over it. I picked my head up and started to feel the wall all over, wiping my fingers across the lines and shapes that were put in the wall. I looked off to my right arm for a moment, and picked it up, realizing that I haven't used this arm at all. I flexed my arm and moved it around as I rested my left arm on the wall, smiling to myself.

This was cut short as footsteps banged behind me. I turned around to see a man with a shaved head and a large scar on his neck. I realized this was the man who tackled me before, and the man who held Rilee hostage.

"Great. You're one of _those_." He grunted at me as he saw me still looking at my arm and feeling the wall.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43: Between a Rock and An Hard Place**

"You must be Louis." I told him.

"And _you_ must be in the right place." Louis snorted at me.

"I was just looking at the..." I parted with my words as I tried to find the lines on the wall again.

"Shut up and let's go." Louis demanded as he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room.

"Don't ever try and run from us, crazy. You'll eat your meals here along with your other clueless friends. I doubt you'll remember this conversation since you've been pumped full of medicines, but I always got to try." Louis warned me as he opened a double door guarded by orderlies.

"Don't try and talk to Lawson, or he'll pee on you. As a matter of fact, don't ever talk to me; I don't get paid enough to talk to a wall of a person like you." Louis complained as he pointed to a man, sitting by himself at a table, his head ducked and his arms close to his head as he pulled food into him.

The cafeteria matched the entire asylum: it was full of light and painted white and yellow, making me feel dreary, floating on air. The walls were smoothed with fresh paint and well maintained, as was everything in this world.

"Then why do you work here?" I asked him.

"What the hell did I just say, dumbass?" Louis asked me angrily as he pushed me to the food line, where many men women stood.

"Why are they grouped together?" I asked Louis, turning around to see him already walked away and talking to more orderlies.

I walked slowly to the line, behind a man, who scratched himself wildly, and shook his arms around. He heard me come to him and he turned around in a heartbeat, eyeing me down like an animal.

"I can't have chocolate before dinner." He threatened me with a twitchy eye as he turned back around.

"It's breakfast..." I mumbled, mainly to myself.

"No! No, this isn't a vegetable! I want a vegetable!" A voice shouted ahead on the line, jumping as high as they could in anger at the lunch servers.

"We give you carrots every day, Carson." A woman told him.

"WELL I WANT A BANANA!" Carson shouted back as he ducked his head and shook it as the orderlies came to him and dragged him away.

"I need to feed my ants!" He shouted at me as the orderlies took him away.

I stared at the man, recognizing him as Cyanide as he look dead into my eyes shook his arms around.

"This is just plain fucking stupid." I squinted angrily at the people I could guess that I invented myself.

"Next!" The lunch woman shouted.

"Okay, okay. Just don't yell, just don't yell." A female voice repeated quickly as she huddled herself closer to the woman and held her tray.

"Here you go, Rachel." The lunch woman smiled as she dropped food onto the girl's tray.

"Oh God, oh God. I'm sorry for yelling, I'm sorry for yelling. CAKE!" The woman shook, holding out her tray as she walked away to a table as sat as far at the end as a human could.

"Next!" The woman yelled to the man in front.

"No chocolate..." The man requested as he scratched his ear.

"Okay, Sammy." The woman smiled as she put food in his tray.

"Oh thank Jesus, no chocolate." Sammy sighed in relief as he walked to a table.

"Next!" The woman shouted to me.

"What do you serve here?" I asked her.

"What you get." She answered as she plopped insta-mash on my tray and gave me milk.

"Insta-mash, huh? Not bad." I declared with a smiled.

"Insta...mash? No... this is the hospital's brand potatoes. Isn't that the stuff they give to the military?" The woman inhaled with a flip of her eyebrow.

"What's your name, honey?" She asked me.

"I'm Sarah." I smiled at her.

"No it's not. _Sady_ here has conflicts with reality, other people live in her head, and we're working on getting them out." Ulysses said as he walked next to me.

"Sady, huh? Pretty name." The woman complimented.

"Guess it is, it's not mine though, and I designed you, so get my name right." I said as I walked away from them with my food and sat at a table.

"Of course, sweetie." The lady smiled.

I sat down at a table, and looked down at my food and shook my head.

"W-W-What's the matter? Did those b-bastards put chocolate in it?" Sammy asked me from across the table.

"No." I answered as I put it into my mouth and chewed, noticing its apparent flavor.

"Good. Good." Sammy said quietly as he scratched his arm.

I looked down the table to Lawson, where he sat there with his head down at the table.

"What's the deal with him?" I asked Sammy as I looked at Lawson.

"Dunno. My guess? Ate chocolate at the wrong time. Chocolate's a bad guy when you surround yourself with it." Sammy questioned.

"Don't talk to him, KI—TTIE!." A woman said to me on my left with a forced yell at the end.

"W-What the shit? Why not?" I asked her as I turned my head to Rilee's face.

"Rilee?" I asked her, continuing to question her existence in this realm as I looked at her matted, messy, black hair that seemed unreal on her makeup-less face that was skinnier than she was in reality.

"My name's Rachel, BRICK SOUP!" She told me, with a yell shortly after the end of it.

"Timmy, Jimmy, Finny!" Rilee yelled, holding her body.

"I'm not going to enjoy talking to you people." I mutered.

Rilee's face was scared, even in a place that was supposed to be safe for her. She was paranoid, her mind silently judging everything, including herself as she tried to continue her day.

"You can't talk to him, he's bad, thinks too much, you know?" Rachel told me.

"I'll take my cha—"

"SHRIMP TACO!"

"I'll take my chances." I repeated after the outburst and got up and sat next to the man.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Get away from me I don't want to talk to myself." The man grunted.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been content on sitting here by myself, please don't talk to me and make me sound crazy for talking to a person that _I_ made up, okay?"

"You think this place is all made-up, right?"

"Yes, so please go somewhere else so I can keep what little sanity I have left."

"I believe the same thing!"

"That's cool."

"W-What do you mean?" I asked.

"Sorry, but I've already been through about three different versions of that person, so can you think of something creative? Or… should I think of something? Dammit, now I confused myself, this is why I don't talk to you people, er, myself!

The man picked up his head, showing me a face I never met before. It was skinny and boyish, but serious also.

"Fine. Sorry." I apologized as I slid back down to Rilee and Lennie.

"He didn't take it so well."

"I told you!" Rilee shouted.

"YOU FUCKS, PUFFER…TIPSY!" Rilee yelled.

"Rachel? Are you okay, honey?" An orderly asked her as she felt her shoulders.

"Please, no, I'm fine, I'm fine." Rilee said to her quickly as she picked her potatoes by the tray and ate it with a fork, putting the tray down and moving it away from her.

"That's enough food for you today, Rachel." The woman said as she took her tray away.

"She only took a single bite." I told the woman.

"Rachel's body is... special. It resists our medication easily, and if she eats too much, the nutrients will block it off." The orderly told me.

"So you're just going to starve her?" I asked her.

"Rachel gets enough calories and nutrients as any other human does, just not in a conventional manner." The woman said, looking over at Rilee for a moment.

"You're lying." I told her.

"No, I'm not." She said to me quickly.

"Sady! Your lunch is over. Let's go." Louis called out to me.

"You have Louis? That's bad, that's bad, that's bad, that's..." Sammy told me.

"I can't have chocolate before dinner." He added.

"Yeah, you told me." I nodded as I got up.

"_I said_ let's go." Louis said angrily as he grabbed my arm and brought my back down the hallway.

"Take it easy, asshole." I snapped back as I slapped his arm away.

"You're lucky you're crazy, or I'll throw my fist straight into your head." Louis threatened as he shoved me into my cell.

"What am I supposed to do here?" I asked him.

"Why don't you go feel up that, weirdo wall-boyfriend you made?" Louis laughed as he walked away.

I turned back into my cell and sat on my bed, sighing to myself.

I was trapped, locked away in a figurative cell that my mind was too weak to break itself free of. I hoped for a beacon of hope to aid me, but such luxuries were far from found. I was alone, thinking of the many ways I could get through Louis, but only get stopped by the many doctors and orderlies. I shut my eyes sullenly, hoping nothing more for than this nightmare to end, so I could get back to the real one.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44: Debate**

I awoke in the night to my cell doors opening electronically. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the door, saddened that I was still in here, but intrigued as to why it was open at such a time. I slowly got up to my feet and walked outside, looking around to the other doors, where they were all closed and locked in the black of night. The only lights in this hallway were at the two ends, where not a single person was around. Soon enough, my ears caught a single sound of words in the air.

"This is me! THIS IS ME!" The voices chanted, overlapping other words.

"I can't let you—I CAN STILL SAVE HER, I CAN STILL SAVE HER!" The words echoed.

"I KNOW YOUR SECRET, D—KILL YOU—LEGION—LEGION! Call you proph—you need it more than I do—JUST LOWER THE GUN—YOU LI- YOU RUINED OUR LIVE-I've got nothing left…"

I walked towards it ignorantly, hoping it was something to help me. I stuck against the wall, slipping across it as I tried to find the source of my turmoil. When I finally reached the end of the hall, I stuck my head out to see the commotion that caused a table to flip over.

"Come on, weirdos! Danc—I'm pregnant-" Louis shouted with a smile to two patients as he laughed with the female orderly that I argued with. I shook my head to hear the noises in my head not leaving me as they went into the fight in front of me.

"No! No, it's dinner ti—not the good guy, Mar-" Sammy's voice shouted out mixed matches voices in my head.

"Quiet and do what she says, weirdo. I rely on you guys to make my job enter—JUST SHOOT HIM-" Louis threatened, pushing Sammy into a vending machine and knocking him to the ground as he lay there, startled as he shook his arms around his body.

"Don't make me do thi—it's okay, baby gi-!" Rilee shouted to her orderly.

"Do what I— have nightma-and you'll get your breakfast—I-I can't move-." The woman told her.

I watched the two as Louis picked up Sammy and threw him into her, knocking them into a table.

"C'mon, Sammy! Throw a punch—let me guess, you're going to keep pushi-!" Louis laughed with the woman as the two patients stared at each other in fear.

Sammy picked up his fists and shook them around at Rilee until one of them connected, and swung her head around until it met my eyes. She stared at me with her mouth open, picking herself up.

"You need—visionaries, like C-you need to go—House- _now_." Rilee whispered to me, too late, as Louis and the orderly looked at me in anger.

"She's—this is what I have to- , watch this." Louis said to her.

I backed away from him, tripping over nothing and crawling away on the floor, staring up at the man as I shook my head of the voices.

I stuttered at him. "I've got a friend, and once he finds out what you've done-"

"You've got no-one. That's why you're here—lower that gun, you're dead to m-." Louis told me as he picked me up and slammed my head into the floor.

My body shook with the impact, and I closed my eyes to wait until it was done with, as I thought there wasn't anything for my body to do. My body shook again, but I felt no force, only noise. I opened my eyes to see myself on my back, facing up at a brown ceiling. My body ached, and I tried to get up by pushing my arms up. Only pain shot through my body as I looked to see my bandaged arm trying to move.

"No, wait." I said in a confused manner.

"Lennie get down!" Joe shouted as the room shook around me.

I looked around, seeing Joe and Lennie sitting down on the train floor, taking cover from bullets flying into the metal all around us. A grenade blasted near the wall, shaking the train, and knocking me to the floor, making me cough and moan as I felt my arm.

"Sarah?!" Joe shouted at me through the firefight as a brown shield blocked them.

"Get behind cover, now!" Joe screamed as bullets slapped through the train in a hailstorm.

I looked forward at them, and crawled on the floor as bullets raced above me, echoing in my ears and hurting my brain. I used my left arm to claw at the ground, bringing myself into the cover as I looked off to the left, where Ulysses was firing a pistol from the back of the train. We were in the dining room, and from the looks of it, we weren't going to be eating there again.

Bits of the floor was missing, and bullets came across through everywhere, making tiny sparks and holes in the wall as they entered. I looked at Ulysses as he took cover at the end of the train, shooting at several mounted men shooting weapons at us.

"What happened?" Joe asked me.

"I-I heard people." I answered.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45: End of the Track**

"What's going on?" I asked them.

"Marge's men! They ambushed us with animal-things!" Lennie shouted as he popped up and shot at one of the horseback riders.

"They've got explosives, Ulysses! We need to get out of here, now!" Joe shouted at him as he fired.

I pulled out my pistol and got up to the cover, and got a look at how many people were facing us.

They were everywhere, riding in lines and howling at us as they shot into the train. I shot the nearest one, and she fell off her horse and rolled violently in the dust until she finally stopped and bled out. I went back into cover and looked at Joe and Lennie, until Rilee ran to us from the other car.

"Come on, this place is screwed, you've gotta keep going ahead!" Rilee shouted.

"Sarah's awake?" She asked me over the gunfire, looking at me.

"She knows." I told her.

"What?!" She yelled over the weapons.

"_She knows_." I said clearly.

Rilee looked at me widely until Lennie and Ulysses ran from the back door.

"THEY FIRED A ROCKET!" Lennie screamed at us as he ran to the door.

Joe and Lennie got through the door, leaving Rilee and I off guard as Ulysses turned around to us. I finally got up and ran into her, tackling her harshly into the next car as the rocket blasted into the back of the train, lifting it into the air and detaching it from the train and sending it rolling at the next train. Rilee and I stared in devastation as she sparks of the train flew off, along with the metal, as the train car rolled up and off the tracks and to the side, rolling up a hill to the side of us as we entered a short tunnel.

"Get up!" I yelled at her as I tried to lift myself up.

Rilee glared angrily at me and kicked me in the face as she crawled away to the next door. I looked at her as she shut it and locked it, staring at me as she ran away. I could feel the harsh booms of the train rolling above me, and I could only think of how I would get another miracle and have the train land somewhere else at the end of the tunnel instead of crashing into me. I turned back to the new end of the train and ran to it, looking over at a side ladder that I climbed instinctively. I climbed to the top of the train as the tunnel ended, and the train car rolled off the cliff above me. I ran across the top of the train in the fastest a limp could go. I dove to the next car as the train car flew off the end of the tunnel and crashed behind me, scraping the metals across the tracks as it detached and rolled into the mounted people. I panted as I stared at the fiery wreck, holding my arm in pain.

I got up, and looked around to see any more horseback marauders, but they ceased to show up. I looked around in confusion until I looked ahead to a wooden bridge where the people in dusters ran away from their red wires. They were planting explosives ahead to derail us into a cavern.

"JOE!" I shouted below.

"Sarah? Is that you?" Joe yelled back.

"Stop the train now!" I yelled at him.

I heard the group talk about the emergency brake until they ran to the next cars, where the brake was pulled, sliding the train across the rust, kicking up dust and sparks as we went through the bridge.

I looked down below, trying to find the bottom of this enormous crack in the earth. Something blue was below, but my eyes were too weak to see it. I guessed it was water.

Before I knew what was happening, the beginning of the bridge blew up in a line of explosions that continued towards us as we crossed the wooden bridge. I turned back to the front of the train, where the first car successfully made it back to the dirt of Texas. The line of explosives hit the train car I was on, and sent me to the floor as the bridge gave out below me. I got to my feet, my heart racing as I continued to run the next car that began to rise above me as the shadows closed in on me, telling me the cart I was n was falling into the cavern. I hopped onto the next metal car as the one behind me dropped from the next one into the cavern, and the rest slid barely so onto the dirt. I ran and jumped as hard as I could to the back of this slanted car, my left arm outstretched to the metal as my body fell. My hand grazed past the metal of the bottom, but met the warmth of another. I looked down to the cavern as the two cars fell into it along with the bits of the bridge.

I looked up to see Ulysses gripping my hand, and pulling me into the bathroom cart as I breathed heavily.

"I got you." He grunted as he put me into the now sideways car, only so because of the hinges to the next one.

I looked to see Joe in this car, while Lennie was above, with Rilee on top, looking down at us.

"Leave it to them to do the most cliché thing with a train." Rilee panted.

"I think we can get out through this door." Rilee panted as she moved her neck behind her.

"I can't jump that." Lennie sighed as he breathed loudly on the side the stall, looking up at the slowly swinging chain to the first car, where Rilee looked down at him, out of reach.

"Come on Lennie, this thing's going to fall any second!" Joe yelled at him.

"I can't do it!" Lennie shouted back.

"Lennie..." Rilee looked down at him.

"Lennie, what are you thinking?" She asked him.

Lennie didn't respond, he only looked down to the cavern as the cart shook, and the hinge that allowed us to be suspended in the cavern creaked and started to break off.

Rilee hopped down to the cart, and lifted Joe up to her, boosting him up.

"Rilee?" Lennie asked her.

Rilee then took Ulysses' arm and lifted him up to the top cart.

I looked at her for a moment as I climbed up, and she outstretched her arm to me with a serious face and brought me up to Joe's arms.

"Rilee, what are you doing? Just let me do it, okay?" Lennie asked her as her back faced him.

She turned around to him and looked sadly into his eyes and brought him into her for a long kiss. She then grabbed him by the arm and brought him upwards to us, and we grabbed him, pulling him up.

"Rilee, no." Lennie ordered her with a broken voice.

Rilee wiped a tear away from her, and lifted her arm closer to Lennie's. The joint between the railcars snapped at that instant, and the dangling car fell off the cliff as Rilee's face disappeared from sight, the car she was on scraping against the rocks as it bounded around and fell downward to the seemingly endless cavern.

"RILEE, NO!" Lennie screamed at her as he looked down the train.

Lennie pushed us out of the way and opened the side door, falling onto the sand and running towards the cliff. I ran after and grabbed his arms and pulled him away from the side with my arm.

"No!" Lennie sobbed.

"It was gonna to be me! It was gonna to be me, I _wanted_ it to be me!" Lennie screamed into the sky as he fell to his knees with me still clenching onto him. Ulysses and Joe walked to both my sides and looked down the cliff silently as Lennie's sobs continued being the only thing heard.

"Look at that, Dodson's plan worked." A voice said calmly behind us as we heard rifles cocking.

"Drop your weapons and get on your knees." The voice said before we could turn around to greet him.

Lennie's free arm went for his pistol as he sobbed over the cliff.

"Drop it, casanova." The man said to him, firing a shot behind him as a warning.

I let go of Lennie and stood beside Ulysses and him as the group of people drew closer to us. We went to our knees and looked over the cliff as the men aimed their weapons behind us. I looked over to Lennie, and he turned his head to me as he was blindfolded and bagged. Before I knew it, I was facing darkness.


	46. Chapter 46

**Act 2:**

**Blast**

_"So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."_

_-Corinthians 15:42-44_

**Chapter 46: Captive**

I felt myself being dragged away and tied up by my hands and feet. Bound by cold steel, I was picked up and laid on my stomach on something warm. It felt patchy: some places smooth, some itchy. It moved around as the people took us away. Muffled grunts from Joe were ended with a punch into him. The thing I was on neighed as someone got on top of it.

I was on a horse, and for what I felt, we took off riding for hours. The horse bucked my head against it, shaking me with every gallop. A could feel the pain in all my cuts as the blood rushed to my head. Breathing became difficult, and I soon had to regulate at what times I should breathe, or otherwise smell the backside of a ghoulmount. Sleep was out of the question, though my body ached for it as I felt the cold of the night spread across the desert. Minutes passed like hours as the men talked to each other, laughing and celebrating their captives as they rode off to wherever they wanted.

"How much is he giving us for this?" One of them asked.

"He said fifty thousand each, but we're splitting it with Marge." A male answered back.

"Why the hell are we splitting it with those assholes?"

"Because they're the ones that brought them to us."

I couldn't help listening to this controversy. For some reason, some unexplainable reason, these two groups were working together to bring us to this point in time. I knew I wasn't allowed to know yet, so I just tried to go back to focusing on the one thing that mattered to me the most.

Eventually, the ghoulmounts stopped galloping, and I was ripped off of them, being blindly dragged somewhere. My feet clanked against metal and the air became moist when they brought me to a stop. I felt one of the people step next to me and hold onto my shoulder tightly.

"Welcome to Multiplayer, honey." He whispered as he poked a needle into my neck.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47: Hazed**

I opened my eyes, one at a time, noticing my dry throat that pained me from dehydration. My head ached and my mouth breathed in damp air that smelled of filth and smoke

"Take it easy, you've been out a while." A male's voice said to my left.

I looked around, noticing a bottle of water to right. I grabbed it immediately and opened it.

"Drink slow." He said to me, pulling the bottle further down as I drank.

I coughed and choked as I finished, turning to my side and looking around.

"Where am I?" I asked roughly, closing my eyes.

"The Steamworks. You've been captured, by Mister Dodson." The man said.

"Captured, huh? We'll see how long it takes till I go back to Sunshine Boulevard, then." I smiled weakly.

"I understand you still have the drugs in your system, they tend to be strong. You've only been out a day, I haven't expected you to be up. You _do_ understand your situation, right?" The male asked me.

"Uh-huh. Captured and drugged. Don't worry, I'll get out in a few days." I said weakly as I turned around on the soft material I was resting on.

"I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen, I'm afraid." He told me.

"Why's that?" I yawned.

"Because in order to do that, you have to kill everyone here, including the friends you came here with. You need to be the arena champion." He explained.

"Sorry, but you haven't met me. My friends and I will think of something to get all of you guys out in no time."

"Sure…" He nodded.

My eyes opened to a man with a messy brown haircut and a stubble beard. His skin was dark tanned. He sat on a table, holding a clipboard near a fire bin. It was dark all around this room, with the only light being a burning can that went up to his hip. There was rubble everywhere, like someone never bothered to clean it up. Dust rocked from the ceiling that seemed like it was to cave in at any moment. I stared at the man as he put on rectangular shaped glasses and read the clipboard before throwing it into the fire can.

"That should be good for another thirty minutes." He mumbled to himself.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"My name's Amir. Amir Al'Zahar. I wish it were a pleasure to meet you, but you gave me this when we did." He said, showing me a cut above his eyebrow.

"Why did I do that?" I asked him.

"Because, you were being hazed." Amir said like it was normal.

"Hazed for what?" I asked him as I felt my eyelids and pulled them around to wake myself up.

"The Multiplayer's tests." Amir answered as he crossed his arms and looked at me.

"What's 'The Multiplayer'?" I mumbled as I lay on my back.

"Mister Dodson's arena he holds for the townsfolk all over the Wasteland. He chose you and your group to be contestants from the looks of it he usually hasn't done that in a while." Amir informed me.

"All over, huh? Sounds cool."

"I take it that you're new here, since you haven't heard of this place before. Well a word of advice: make yourself useful, because Dodson's got a liking for you guys, since he's acquired you." Amir said to me with a nod.

"Why? I've never met him before." I told him.

"He has cameras in the arenas where we fight, he can figure out anything about you by the way you fight." Amir said wearingly.

"But I haven't been in the arena..." I said tiredly, straining my head to recall a memory.

"That's because you don't remember your hazing. He drugged you all and pitted you against other contestants to see how you fare."

"By the way, you're lucky you got here when you did, that arm of yours was about to fall off. Everything's okay, now, though." Amir told me as I turned my head to my right and looked at my arm and moved my fingers around slowly.

"Now it's going to be a little stiff, but that's normal. You'll get used to it eventually." Amir told me.

"Thank you." I told him.

"You're welcome—uh,"

"Sarah. Sarah Marston." I smiled, shaking his hand with my right arm.

"Nice to meet you, Sarah Marston. Would you like me to give you a tour of the Steamworks?" Amir offered.

"Sure." I smiled as I sat up in my cot as I shook my legs around and hopped off, stomping my feet until I got sensation in them again. Amir walked in front and opened a cracked wooden door that you could see through, since most of the wood was blown off. He opened it to a much larger room that was dark above the several oil canisters. A light mist blanketed the area above us as we walked through rubble. Torn down walls left to sit there were everywhere, with houses made from posters that were darkened and ragged saying something about a 'Derby' were spread out. People sat in tents and looked at each other with mistrusting eyes. Everyone seemed around the same ages: 30-50 year old people with dirtied bodies and clothes that were way too big for their skinny bodies. One out of every four people wore metal armor with bandoliers wrapped around their chests and sat near themselves at their makeshift huts made from the remaining drywall.

"This is called the Steamworks. As you can see, it's not glamorous, 'but neither is show business', Dodson tells us." Amir informed me.

"It's under the Great Arena: Dodson's proudest achievement, the arena that sparked the building of many, many more." Amir told me.

"How many are there?" I asked him.

"No one knows. Some have counted more than five, but the veterans say more than ten, and they're all different given the match." Amir answered.

"The pipes run through to that room and they tend to give off some steam, hence 'Steamworks', and why there's steam all over the place." Amir told me, pointing to a guarded room by two men in white armor that sparkled even in the darkness of the chamber. They held, large, highest of the caliber that a rifle could hold, slung over their arms as they looked back at us through their filtration helmets.

"Don't ever get near them; they shoot anyone who gets close." Amir told me as we walked past them.

"I'll be sure to stay away." I told him as I looked around more.

"Good." Amir said as we reached the end of the Steamworks.

"How long has this place been running?" I asked him.

"Dunno. Mostly everyone here was born and bred for this thing. Only recently Mister Dodson's been taking people in since the deaths." Amir told me as we stopped walking.

"Aren't we going back now?" I asked him.

"No. Dodson would like to see you before your first game." Amir told me as he brought me to a panel in the wall, revealed by two guards.

"Good luck." He said to me, walking away as the doors opened to an elevator.

"Get in." One of the guards said to me.

I replied with a mute "okay", clearing my throat so I repeat my words so they could hear. I stepped in the elevator and sat beside the two armed men as the floor moved, and my stomach turned. We sat in silence in the elevator until the doors opened up to a red and brown carpeted office. I walked inside the cool room to a man sitting in a chair, looking attentively in a screen while several cameras were shoved into his face and screens showing him video surrounded him. He wore a red and orange suit that matched the carpet and a fedora that went over short blonde hair. A brown cane rested next to him, along with several different shells all over his desk, sitting up against a box of pre-war condoms and nudie magazines. He ate crackers loudly as he laughed.

"HAA! Blue team takes a tumble again! C'mon, Javier, no one realizes you pissed yourself yet!" The man laughed childishly at the screen.

"And that's alls he wrote! Nice killing, Purple team. Hit the showers and try not to imagine me in there, huh? Hahaaha—wait, I'm writing that down."

"Ah crap, I forgot makeup on my cheek." He said as he felt his face.

"Oh! Hi... uh-what's up?" He asked us as we walked in.

"The newcomer is here to see you." One of the guards said as they both walked away.

"Ah, Marston! Sup?" He asked me nonchalantly.

"'Sup'? You hunted me down and kidnapped me, bringing me to this god-awful place, and you say 'sup'?" I asked him angrily.

"Uh... yeah." He told me quizzically.

"If you want to leave, the door's right there." He told me, pointing to the door.

"Really?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He said honestly.

"I don't believe you." I told him with a shake of my head.

"So you _want_ to be here?"

"No, I just-"

"Want to spend some time with me? I'm flattered, truly am. If this dating thing's going to work, I might as well tell you my name. Call me Dodson. Mister Dodson if you're a fancy sort of gal." Dodson winked at me.

"I immediately hate you based off of this conversation so far." I said to him.

"But I _love_ you, Sarah. I do. Not in the way you_ want_ me to, but I still love ya'." Dodson said with a cheerful fist pump.

"How do you know my name?" I asked him.

"How do you know mine?" Mister Dodson asked back.

"You… just told me five seconds ago. How do you know mine?" I asked him, holding my fist angrily.

"Aw, you don't remember? You told me, kiddo! Among a whole bunch of things about yourself..." Dodson smiled.

"How?" I asked, slamming my now functioning hands on his desk.

"Your left hand's stronger than you're right. That's real charming." Dodson pointed to my thick-veined left hand.

"How do you know my name, asshole?" I asked him.

"You told us when we drugged you, sweat pea. Now take it easy! You're alive, and better yet, you get to spend some time with me! It's a win/win, because I get to see you fight for everyone's entertainment...but not my entertainment, this is strictly professional." Dodson told me with a white smile.

"Where are my friends?" I asked him.

"They're someone around The Steamworks, probably with their teams." Dodson said as he pulled out a box of crackers and started to eat them.

"_Team_s?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Couldn't have you all together, no, that'd be a pain in the ass, and I want my ass to look perfect." Dodson said as he looked at his crackers with regret and put them down.

"Oh, that reminds me..." Dodson said as he wiped the crumbs on a doily and rummaged through his desk, pulling out a stained blue t-shirt.

"Welcome to the Blue Team. Want a cracker? You look like you could gain some weight." Dodson's smile widened to the edge of his cheeks as he held it out.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48: Blue**

I exited the elevator with a sigh, staring sadly at the guards as they continued to do their only job next to the doors. I looked around the Steamworks and shivered.

I was cold, and it was a rare feeling. So rare, it deserves its own indented line apart from the others in this story.

For a steam room surrounded by burning oil canisters, I could see my exhales clearly as I held onto my arms tightly. It was then I realized I was alone, that I had nothing. No house, no food, barely any clothes, and most importantly, no weapons. I lifted up the blue cloth and looked at it in my hand. I sighed and looked around until I put it over my now ragged undershirt.

It wasn't enough, but it was something. I could endure the random chill for a few more hours with this chafing shirt that somehow fit me perfectly. Now I just had to think of something for me to do so I could get my life in a basement to start. I figured Amir would have some advice for me, so I started towards his "office", if I could even call it that. I moved through the wandering crowds of people, looking around for anyone familiar.

Everyone down there had a colored preference in their attire. There were woman with yellow painted masks with spikes coming out, and men with green Kevlar vests surrounded with scarves stained in blood. Grizzled veterans of the sport wore purple armor from head to toe, with black tallies on their helmets, going all the way up to the thirties. Those rare people were surrounded by what they call filth, as two people were arguing over something irrelevant.

"I know it was you, David! Don't screw with me!" One man shouted to another.

"He's dead, it's not my fault! Someone shot him too many times, shit happens, bro!" The other man shouted back, suddenly turning the conversation into paramount importance.

"You were his partner, and now you're wearing his raiment, what the hell does that say?" The man shouted at David, pointing to his yellow, light armor.

"It _says_ I have to do everything I can to survive, and if that includes taking his reward, then so be it, anus-firework." David said to the man as he turned away.

I continued walking, ignoring their quarrel. I soon spotted Amir's shelter, waving at him through the broken door.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you, don't go to other doctors, Dodson doesn't really like it that people are staying behind during matches to heal people." Amir told me.

"I thought I was just dumped on you for no reason."

"You were." He nodded. "The Blue Team. We take in everyone, hoping they'd go on our team. Looks like we finally got a replacement." Amir sighed, looking at my shirt.

"Yeah. Guess so." I told him as I sat back on the cot I woke up in.

"So where is the rest of the team? I haven't seen them down here." I told him.

"They're doing a Team Deathmatch against most of the Purple Team. We can stay behind if we want, but if the whole team does, the guards will come looking for us."

"'Team Deathmatch'? What's what?" I inquired.

"Two teams fight each other until one is victorious, or until the amount of time has been reached. It's the least favorite of Dodson's games, but it helps sort out the weak fighters." Amir informed me.

"Since they put you on Blue that means it's another loss for us." Amir sighed.

"How long have you been here?" I asked him.

"Uh, about a decade, now." Amir answered.

"Wow." I told him.

"Don't worry. You'll learn to occupy yourself here with a few wins." Amir assured me.

"How?" I asked him.

"Every victory, you earn a reward. It could be a weapon you start the match with, or something random that Dodson picks for you. He does that for the newbies."

"Great." I sighed.

"The Blue Team usually hangs out around here. You should talk to some of them and see if they can help you out." Amir told me.

"Bored of me already?" I asked kindly.

"Now, but I'm pretty busy here." Amir said as he flicked a needle.

"With what?" I asked him.

Amir looked at me and held out three fingers, removing one with each second. When the last one dropped, the doors flung open with a group of people donned with blue. They carried bodies into the room, swarming Amir with bleeding people.

"How many could you take back with you?" Amir asked one of the heavily armored people.

"Only two. The Doctors took one more away." One answered as Amir stuck a needle into one who screamed in agony, making her rest on the bed.

"Dammit. Alright, everyone clear the room! I need to work!" Amir shouted at the large group of blue.

We left the room quickly, leaving the bloody coughs and moans behind us. I walked in the group of the blue, third-wheeling their conversations.

"We almost got one of the vets today. Did you see him? The one with the sniper. That's the one that almost got the noob... what's his name... Javier?" One of the average ranked team members asked.

"Hey, Nacho!" One of the women called to a tan skinned kid with flipped up black hair.

"That's not my name, bitch." Javier said angrily to her, flexing his chest outwards and making fists.

"Yeah, whatever, noob." The woman chuckled with her friends.

"Hey, guys look! We got a fresh noob!" The woman laughed as she pointed to me.

I frowned at them, trying to walk away as I bared the verisimilitude of life here. The impenetrability of their logic turned me away from them, blowing the cover of the third wheel I tried to grasp onto.

"Look at her face, dude! She has no idea!" A man giggled.

"Hey, noob, do you even know how to shoot a gun?" The woman chortled crudely.

I ignored them, seeing as saying anything back would spark another wise crack.

"Hey, hey, take it easy she's probably going to die in the first match anyway." The man faux protected me with a smirk under a bandana painted black and blue.

"She's gonna get shot right through the stomach. Watch." The woman bet.

The insults ended when static revealed several flat screens all above us. The static ended with Dodson on camera, showing up in the several screens.

"Get ready for a match everyone! It's Partners in Crime with the two new picks of the Blue, Yellow, Red, and White team. Have fun, kids." Dodson smiled as the transmission cut off.

"Let's just get the noobs killed so we can focus on winning a match." The woman decided.

"Come on, noobs, go already!" A blonde haired veteran yelled as she pushed me into Javier.

"If someone says 'noob' one more time, I'm going to perform murder suicide." I muttered.

We looked at each other and walked where other colored teams of two did. They separated at a large circular room with several large elevator doors with signs on the top. They were flags with colored text on them, signifying the team that must go inside. Javier and I walked to the blue elevator door, where guards stopped us by outstretching their arms in front of us.

"Hold out your arms." One of them told us.

Javier and I listened and held out both our arms to them. The guards then ruffled through their pockets as we stared at them with question. Before I knew it, handcuffs were slapped onto my right arm, the other cuff being bounded on Javier.

"Dude, the fuck?" I asked them, pulling away my arm.

"That's the whole point of the game. Now get in the elevator." The guard said.

We walked into the door, and the large metal slides closed in on us, I then felt the whir of machinery pull us up into the air. I turned over to Javier, who stared in disgust at the cuffs, and resent at me.

"You better not get me killed." Javier said in a Spanish accent.

"I'll try my best." I answered sarcastically.

"Not going to be good enough." He sighed as the elevator slowed to a stop.

"Welcome, welcome, my fair people of The Wasteland! I'm your ringmaster, Mister Dodson, giving you one of my favorite games: Partners in Crime!" Dodson yelled through the elevator speakers as we both sat in the small room and waited. The television screen in the elevator soon turned onto Dodson's smiling face, one that looked right into my soul.

"But I'm not going to do this alone! Please welcome the two hosts: Bob and Dave!" Dodson welcomed to two clean-cut men in pre-war suits with combed over hair.

"How are you guys today? Are you ready for some death, Dave?" Bob asked, flipping his brown hair over to the black haired Dave.

"When aren't I, Bob?" Dave responded kindly in a deep voice.

"That's the spirit, kiddos. Tell the noobs what they're up against, huh?" Dodson asked the two.

"Partners in Crime pits four teams of two to battle it out in the arena until one team is victorious. The catch?" Bob asked Dave.

"The catch is you have to put up with the partner you're handcuffed to!" Dave informed us.

"Man, it's like we play that game every day, huh, Dave?" Bob asked.

"What the hell does _that_ mean?" Dave asked his partner seriously.

"Please don't do this now…"

"Now this is going to be a difficult challenge for lone wolves, which is why we're throwing them a bone by having the most unseasoned play this match." Bob told us.

"Hoo, now this is going to be something to see, Bob." Dave said to his co-host.

"That it is. So let's introduce the teams, shall we?" Bob asked.

"On the Red Team, we have an unlikely pair of teams who are _inseparable_." Dave informed us, showing footage of an extremely large and muscular man cuffed to an extremely young girl who hid behind the blob when the camera moved to them. The footage then cut off to the two fighting in their haze match. The large man stood in the middle of the battle while the little girl rode on his shoulders. The large man plowed through everyone, crushing them whole with his fists and feet.

"We can nickname these two love birds later. I think big guy over here is getting hungry." Bob chuckled as we looked at the angered, shaved face of a man.

"Next up on the Yellow Team: A rare catch for us, the descendant of General Jingwei, a military communist in the Anchorage Battles, please welcome Jinzu and his partner Little Water!" Bob attempted to excite as the footage showed a young Asian man with blown over hair, wearing a yellow jacket and black sweatpants, handcuffed to a small tan woman with a pony tail and red war paint.

"As you all know, Jinzu's family has been cursed for years, all members of the family ending by the sword, starting from General Jingwei. Will he meet the same fate as his ancestors today?" Dave asked.

"Next on the Blue Team, we have Little Miss Marston, the freshest of the Blue Team, along with the Javier Hot-Pants! You all remember him, right?" Bob asked everyone.

"Not sure, his pants are still dry!" Dave laughed together with his proper co-host.

"I'll kill them both!" Javier yelled at the screen as the footage cut to us.

"You think I won't?! I'll end you!" Javier yelled at the camera.

"Take it easy, you realize you're yelling at the television, right?" I asked him.

I looked at the television screen as it showed our hazing matches. I stared in confusing bewilderment as I saw for the first time the match that got me here. I ran at the other people, screaming wildly as I gouged out eyes, snapped necks, and threw peoples' heads onto stone around the arena. I looked like a maniac. Javier's last match then showed up, with him running at the Red Team with a knife, and then being forced to eat dirt soon after.

"Now for the White Team. The man—woman—thing that's been making waves around the matches ever since—'it' got here, please welcome... It, and… its partner Chase!" Dave announced, showing a camera view of two white clothed people standing entirely still in the elevator. One man wore a black trench coat with a white assault vest over it. It didn't have anything on it, though, which made me looked at the person more. The person had a breathing mask with a white cloth tied on their head, blocking all facial recognition for me. The man next to him had a blonde mohawk with loose hair coming off from the right side. He had white face paint: two horizontal lines under his eyes and two vertical ones of his chin. His skin was slightly browned. The footage showed the two in their already worn armors in their last match, pulling bodies out from under their feet and beating them down.

"Without further ado, let's get it on..." Bob started.

"Because in Multiplayer, everything's allowed!" Both hosts said together as the doors opened slowly, revealing the arena to us.

"_Except rape_. Stop doing that, it's not allowed." Dave added, clearing speaking into his microphone.

It was a large, rounded room with televisions and speakers all over, showing both Bob and Dave, along with Dodson and the four teams from a high vantage point camera. This particular arena was paved with stone, leading to about four average sized buildings with blood stains, fire marks, and bullet holes on them. The doors and windows were crashed open already and left there. I looked around the arena more at the extremely high walls. The ceiling was a bubble you could see out of, and slightly below that were bleachers of people, lining the wall. They all cheered as the doors opened- clapping, whistling, and spouting hateful words onto their most hated team with words of praise for their liked ones.

Before I could see anything more, Javier tugged on the chain and ran forward into the town square, dragging me behind him.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" I asked him angrily.

"I'm going to the dead drop, noob! We need weapons, dumbass!" Javier shouted as he ran to the left, along a wall with blue spray paint all over it.

"Murder suicide it is." I mumbled.

A few boxes were laid on the wall, looking to be dropped quickly here. Javier slammed us both down to a box, and he looked at all of them, stopping his seeing hands on one box.

It was a different color than the green and gray of the boxes. It was brown, and the most distinguished thing about it was the paper tag reading "Sarah".

"Mister Dodson gave you a mystery drop? Why the hell did he give it to you?" Javier asked me with jealousy in his eyes.

"Well? Open it!" He exclaimed at me.

I ripped open the box as Javier tightened the cuffs around my wrists with him trying to move away from me. I moved him closer with a tug of my arm and ripped open the lid, peering inside.

"And White thinks outside the book with that move, changing the game!" Bob exclaimed on the intercom.

"Yeah, that one's gonna help them out." Dave agreed.

"You _literally_ just rephrased what I said after I said it." Bob told his co-host.

I tried not to listen to the banter of the two as I flipped the box over and emptied it out onto the ground. I picked up a bottle of water and a pre-war protein bar, wrapped in a faded yellow and blue wrapper with a picture of a shirtless muscular man on it, flexing his arms. The bottle was worn just like the bar, except it didn't look flattened down like the bar was. It hasn't been opened.

"Dodson's never given _me _something!" Javier stared angrily at me as I put them in my jeans.

"Why would we need these?" I asked him as I lifted up the water.

In a flash of the moment, light flickered horizontally past us, sparking into the blue painted wall and shooting out dust.

"Get into cover!" I shouted at Javier, pulling the cuff bind towards the back of the wall.

I tripped from straining the chain, and looked behind me as Javier stared in agonizing fear at the distanced sniper. Another round went at me, and hit one of the ammo crates behind us.

"What the hell are you doing?! Go!" I screamed as I grabbed Javier and pulled him towards the wall.

I crawled into the cover, dragging Javier in with me, who looked around rapidly with wide eyes.

"Did you get a gun?" I asked him.

"_Did you get a gun_?!" I asked again, shaking his shoulders.

"I thought you were going to get one!" He retorted.

"What kind of dumb-shit response is that? Were you busy curing a disease or something while I was busy with the box?" I yelled sarcastically.

I noticed that the sniper stopped firing from the ledge they sat upon, and in the arena, I heard more gunfire and screams of battle came down further.

"I think they stopped firing." I exhaled.

"Good, now let's go and kick their goddamn asses." Javier said angrily, lifting out arms as he punched his hand.

"You need to get your personality fixed." I told him.

"Whoaaah! Did you see that?! He just crushed her head entirely! It like—it like splattered all over the place! Hahahha!" Dodson laughed into the microphone.

"Oh right, two minutes left... probably should have said that first." Dodson remembered a few seconds later.

A bird's chirp whistled above us, making us look up at a crouched figure of a man, staring maliciously at us, holding up his left arm, which held a knife. Below his hand dangled a single cuff and loose chain.

Javier and I ran away from each other instantaneously, causing us to collide into each other when we slingshotted back together via our right arms. The figure dropped down to us and stared down to us, shaking his head.

He was the one called Chase, I recognized his white paint placed upon his face, and his large mohawk on his head.

"Pathetic." He told us in a quiet, serious tone, flipping his knife in his hand with no effort.

He raised his fist into the air and whistled loudly as Javier and I stared up at him, equally as frightful. After a few moments, a whistle returned, even across the gunfight. Chase looked down at us, and gripped the hilt of his knife.

"We're not going to do this a-"

Blood splattered on us before I could reason with the man. I clenched my fists and closed my eyes, trying to back up into the wall further, as if it would help me. When I realized the blood didn't come from me, I opened my eyes and saw Chase turned around to the Yellow Team, holding his arrow-pierced shoulder. Little Water drew another arrow for her bow as Jinzu stood next to her, seeming to tower above her, even though he were normal size. He stood as much dominantly as he did casually. Chase whistled loudly as he ran at the cuffed two.

In an instant, Jinzu sparked alive as Chase's knife drew down at Little Water. He deflected the knife with his arm and kicked him in the stomach, returning valiantly to his partner.

Another shot rang out, and this time it had weight. A sniper bullet crashed through the chest of Little Water, dropping her to her partner.

"Oooh! Little Water Takes a bullet to the stomach!" Dave called out.

"That's gonna give the doctors something to work at tonight." Bob said.

"I'd be surprised if she even wants to participate after that close of a call." Dave said to his co-host.

"You know, I just realized this now, I put the Asian guy on the Yellow Team. Sorry, wasn't thinking about it at the time." Dodson announced as Jinzu looked up angrily at the television screen, ignoring the red that stained his clothing.

"We've got to go, now!" I yelled at Javier, who stared openly at the battle scene.

"Hey." A gentle voice called out to me.

I turned to me side and saw a small girl holding her hands as she stood at the end of the wall. She had blonde hair with curls at the end. Her clothes were in decent condition, considering the battle has already left me bloody, dirtied, and sweaty. She was skinny, more skinny that I was, like she hasn't been eating the right foods.

"Who are you?" I asked her.

"You need to start fighting." She told me, almost ashamed to say it, judging from her bent down head.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her as I crept closer to her, moving my arm out to touch her and make sure I wasn't going crazy.

Footsteps quickly thundered next to me, blocking my arm from the girl. A large, hulking mass of danger stood in front of me, breathing heavily and moving his entire upper body up and down with every breath. A handcuff rattled in his right fist, one that had been set at the loosest setting, but still made the skin around his wrist bulge out. The man picked me up, bringing Javier and I with him. He brought me eye level to me, and I stared into the deep recesses of the black soul that was incased in his pupils. He then roared at me angrily, shooting saliva onto my face and he squeezed my arms. My head hated the sound, and punctured the back of my head and made me flail my arms even more.

"I think that guy's name should be Big—no,no, wait—Large. Argh, writer's block—writer's block. What do you guys think?" Dodson asked the crowd.

I looked around for something I could do to help me. To my right, Chase and Jinzu fought with their fists over the corpse of Little Water. Chase slammed his left arm into Jinzu, and he recovered with great dexterity and drove his palm into Chase's chest, knocking him outwards into the ground. Chase got up and threw his knife at Jinzu's stomach, removing the man's balance and making him fall back, breathing heavily.

I proceeded to punch my left hand into the man's face with all my might. The sound of a whip cracking occurred in front of me as another mysterious bullet came from the sniper in some area. The man dropped the combination of people and sent us into the ground, running towards a series of hills on the outskirts of the center of the arena.

"You know, there's buildings and stuff I made in the center there. C'mon guys, I worked so hard on it, just… just take cover in one of them." Dodson said into the intercom as I looked up at the hulking man.

He scooped the girl up onto his shoulders and he ran with all his might, grunting angrily as the sniper didn't fire a bullet. The small girl rested her right arm out on the man's as he ran towards the position of the sniper.

Javier coughed on the ground, looking up at the running man and shook his fist, "That's right," He yelled, "You better run, bitch!"

One single bullet came from the rifle at this moment, whizzing straight at the group of two. The bullet instead crashed into the arm of the girl, knocking her down from her muscled tower and having her fall back off her protector and fall next to him, still cuffed down to him.

The man turned around slowly, his anger gone and replaced with the seemingly rare visitor to his domain, shock. His rounded belly flopped down to his knees as he stared over his partner. He felt her shoulder's wound and made her cry out in agony, shooting the hand back to a reasonable distance away from the wound.

He didn't know what to do, he watched down over her in horror as she shook violently. The bullet had ripped through most of the muscle tissue, causing the girl to scream out into the air and wiggle her arms around so someone would help her. The large man could only watch down at her silently and remorsefully.

"Well that doesn't look pleasant." Dodson declared.

In an instant, another sniper round exploded through the air, shredding through the shoulder of the man. He grunted out lout, and tried to stand up, but only met another bullet in the stomach, and two more in the thigh. The goliath of destruction looked only at his partner as he flopped onto the ground, bleeding next to his partner as the handcuffs stayed tightly on, in between them both.

I wretched myself up, moving Javier up from the wall, and walking towards Chase ad he took the arrow out of his shoulder, tying a cloth around the blood. He turned to me, and smiled at Javier as he ambled up to his feet. A knife flew from Chase's arm into Javier's shaking knee. He turned pale in an instant from looking at the wound, and fainted next to me.

"Come on, get up!" I yelled at him as the audience cheered for more, screaming from the stands.

"Javier takes another tumble." Dave sighed.

"No surprise there." Bob added.

"Remember what we said." Chase told me as he ripped his knife out of Javier's knee and pushed his arm forward into my stomach whilst holding my shoulder.

The audience felt pain at that moment, judging from the 'ooh's coming from the high up rotunda.

I heard the knife holster into Chase's belt as he kept his head next to my ear.

"We won't do this again. Now hold your stomach and fall over." He whispered as he let me go.

I clenched my stomach in pain and dropped to the dirt next to Javier as Chase walked away.

"White Team wins the match!" Bob shouted.

"An amazing victory with tactical expertise, Bob. That was a good match!" Dave agreed as the crowd cheered.

"I expected better from you noobs." Dodson sighed as he ended the transmissions of both the hosts and himself.

I sighed and rolled to my stomach, looking at Javier who mumbled to himself and shook his head. "Get up," I told him. "It's over."

"What happened?" He asked me.

"We lost," I sighed. "Now stay here so you can get some help."

"No," He waved me away from him "I'm fine."

Javier got to his feet and limped away to the elevators while men and women in yellow protective suits picked up Little Water and brought her away. The remaining teams quickly got up and jogged away to the elevators with their wounds still present. The large man had trouble with this, as he painfully moaned in duress as he lifted up his partner and lumbered away. His face said he couldn't do it, but his body said otherwise. One foot in front of the other, he brought her to the elevator and dropped as he pressed the button, closing the doors behind them.

"That knife must've nicked a vein of something." Javier said as he pressed a button in the elevator, shutting the doors.

"You fainted from fear," I said to him angrily "The knife wasn't even that deep."

"What's your problem? We were about this close to being killed." Javier said, separating his fingers about one inch from the other.

"No we weren't, they didn't want to kill us because..."

"Because what, noob?" Javier asked me as the elevator doors opened to the arena hallway, where the teams limped away, not making eye contact with anyone but their teammates.

"They probably are saving us for later, I don't know." I said, looking at the white team as they walked away from their guards with unbound arms.

"Why don't you go ask them, then?" Javier asked annoyingly while the guard clicked our cuffs open.

I walked toward them in the first chance I had to get away from Javier, my eyes centered at the partners.

"I didn't actually _mean_ it!" Javier called after me as I wrung my wrist.

"I did what you said, sir. I hope you had the right choice with this group, all my stuff's riding on it." Chase told the masked sniper.

"Hey." I called from behind them. The two slowly turned around to me and faced me with eyes of stress.

"Why'd you let us live?" I asked them.

"Because you were going to die if we didn't, noob." Chase answered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked them as they turned around and walked away from me.

"Hey! Hey, answer my question!" I yelled.

"Shut up, noob." Javier said angrily as he limped.

"I remember you were being called a 'noob' just like me." I told him as we walked to Amir's office.

"Whatever, at least I tried to fight." He snapped back.

"You call that fighting?"

"If you'd gotten a gun for us I could have done better!" Javier squealed in anger.

I opened the door to Amir's office, where he was looking after the Blue Team's wounded. He turned to us, and looked sadly at Javier's leg.

"Well, that's not bad for your first match." Amir sighed.

"I've fought before." Javier retorted as he sat in a chair and carefully rolled up his pant leg.

"Yeah, you have." Amir said as he held instruments to the wound.

"You're lucky you didn't get incapacitated while you were out there, I couldn't do much for you, then." Amir told us.

"Couldn't Dodson's doctors fix us up, then?" I asked him, quizzically.

"You're saying the team didn't tell you yet?" Amir asked, looking at the door.

"What?" I asked him.

"Dodson's doctors don't heal you when you're hurt, they kill you." He told me.

I stared back in confusion, and looked around at the wounded, not thinking how I didn't notice this before. I was in a high stakes match with no reward, and I've already started out with a bad hand.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49: Square One**

"Why the hell would they do that?" I asked him quickly as Amir turned away to his cabinet.

"Because incapacitation shows that you're not a good fighter for Mister Dodson—it's a weakness, we figure." Amir said to me.

"Wait, so they lie to the audience?" I asked him, remembering Little Water. Amir bent to Javier's leg and ripped out the bullet.

Amir sighed, "He fainted before the tweezers went in."

"In answer to your question... yeah." Amir nodded as he wiped the tweezers.

"In case you didn't get any other information for this game, go ask your teammates—preferably the veterans. We've only got two: Hoyt and Michelle." Amir aided me.

"You can spot them from their armor. They match." He nodded.

"Uh, thanks." I said as I left the room.

I looked around to see the Blue Team walking around and lounging near a fire at the center. Several tents were up with people inside. I had forgotten my Pip-Boy were on my wrist, so I lifted it up to check the time: 10:03 P.M.

I cycled to the maps and was met with nothing. I sighed and looked through any and all maps. They were all out. I looked around the team and realized they were all staring at me like I had a third arm. I looked behind me to see a man in plate armor, stitched to tight leather. He had dirty blonde hair and a shaved beard. A cloth was lowered on his neck and tied around at the back of the head. It's pattern was blue and black flannel, matching his black and blue armor and pants. He raised an eyebrow at me as I lowered my Pip-Boy to my side.

"Uh, Hoyt, right? Hi, I'm Sarah—I, uh, I'm new here and I was wondering if you can help me out with the terms of the arena and all-"

"Get away from me, noob, I'm busy." Hoyt shook his head at me.

"Hey Clueless!" A woman shouted at me.

"Bother someone else, we're planning." A woman yelled at me, stepping in front of Hoyt.

This woman wore an exact copy of Hoyt's armor, except she had short cut black hair that met at several points at the end of her hair. It seemed to be blown off to her left, with strands ending at her green eyes. I guessed this was Michelle.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just asking him about the arena." I told him.

"Figure it out yourself like everyone else!" Michelle shouted back, pulling away her boyfriend to a wall covered by a tarp.

"Sarah?" A person asked, attempting my name for the first time.

"Yeah?" I sighed at the teammate.

"I think this is yours." A person said, pointing to a tent with a sign attached to it.

I walked forward at it, looking at its paper sign hanging from it. "For Sarah", it said. I looked at the brown tarp set up with a sleeping bag underneath. It wasn't much, but then again, neither were The Steamworks. I opened up the tent more for a better look and went inside, ducking my head so I could squeeze through. I sat down on the sleeping bag, it was old, and I could stitch myself up one if I had the supplies. I felt my pockets and pulled out the bottled water and protein bar and ate from them. They both tasted dusted and dry, but that was expired food, for you.

I sighed and quickly went under the covers as I felt a chill rush down my spine. I lay on my side while I heard the Blue Team laugh at the fire.

"You hear what happened to Javier? That crap was hilarious!" A member giggled.

"Yeah, he's passed out in the doc's place. Didn't he just get stabbed in the foot?" Another member asked.

"Yeah, that noob's screwed in his next match."

"Yeah, you get a load of the newer one?"

"What, the chick? Oh yeah, not even a scratch on her from that match. Looks like she's better at running away than Javier!" The group then laughed at gulped down water.

The intercom televisions sparked and beeped with a message for the teams around us.

"Blue and White Teams: Please send all players above rank 2 to the great chamber, 'cause it's gonna get good." Dodson's voice said.

"A match at night? You've got to be kidding me..." A teammate sighed.

"We're missing people, man." Another said.

"Forget them, just stay down during the match and hope for the best." Hoyt's voice called to them as I heard the clamor of the team picking up their things.

"Got it." Someone complied.

I sighed through my nose and kept my eyes closed, shivering in the dark. I was hated by the people who were supposed to back me up in this place. What surprised me the most was that I actually cared about what they thought. It ate away at me like flies on meat—constantly stinging my ego. I felt alone, more than ever. In a room where you're always five feet away from a face, I felt like I had no one—because I knew I didn't. In a few moments, one person made me feel like I was a child again , like I had to watch my back even when around friends, like I had no defense against anything, like I had nothing to call my own, except my failures in life.

It wasn't fair, I thought to myself. We were so close to getting to Nevada and now those dreams were gone, away into nothing, puffed away out of reach like the steam above me. I tried to tell myself it wasn't over yet, but my mind rejected the idea. It knew where my path was leading — down the corridors of blood, past the corner leading to a spike trap and up to the door that leads to some plan that I don't even know will work. Nevertheless, my ego kept my head parallel to my gun. I couldn't really say I didn't expect this to happen, it's been in the family history for as long as I can remember; always death, always collateral loss, always fighting for what I thought was right.

I was done. What did doing right have for me? It killed my grandparents, my parents, my friends—all sacrificed for doing something they thought was "right". I wasn't sure if it was the debilitating chill that made me antsy or the fact that all of this was true, I needed a change. I knew I had to do something, things weren't getting accomplished using the traditional method of shoot first, apologize later. I vowed to myself: I was going to get things done.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50: To the Victor...**

The next few weeks dragged on as much as I would expect: Javier and I were the bottom ranked noobs of the Blue Team, so we weren't getting into the common matches. Good enough for me, I thought. It gave me the time to perfect my new abode, keep it up and make sure the vets of the team didn't knock it over during the night with a snicker. I figured it was bearable, not the exciting life I wanted, but enough to live by.

I stayed away from the team, shunning them as they did me. I loathed social confrontation, but sucked it up when I had to ask for meals and the bathroom bucket that was stamped with Dodson's smiling face and a welcoming thumbs up. This was considered normal for me. I was already used to not talking to anyone and my life was already degraded enough.

My "peaceful" existence was teetering over a pointed knife, and it was just about to fall over.

"Can I have some food?" I asked one of the higher levels and semi-physically fit teammate named Jethro.

"You know what? Why do I even insist on feeding you, Marston? What have you ever done for this team besides bring back the cry baby?" Jethro asked, packing away a sugar sick on his ear, pressing it up against his large afro.

"I just want to eat, Jethro." I told him dryly.

"Sorry doll, I ain't giving you crap. You got silk fancy and cloth pockets. You need to start pulling your own." He told me.

The intercoms buzzed and the televisions flickered on around us, showing us Dodson's face.

"Sup. It's that time of the month again—no, no ladies, I'm not talking about that, that's… just disgusting if you ask me. It's time for Big Team Battle! It's Yellow versus Blue, so get ready for the fight of their lifetimes in the Great Arena! I'm kidding about that last part." Dodson smiled.

"Tell you what..." Jethro smiled with an inventive smirk.

"If you can get more than two kills in the match, I'll keep giving you my food. Screw up like last time and you get jack piss." Jethro proposed.

"Yeah, sure, okay." I told him.

"Can I get in on this, too?" Javier asked eagerly.

"What? You? Sure thing, little guy. Let's make it a competition." Jethro said as he got up from his usual hideaway- a knocked over wall suspended from everyone else.

We packed up out things and the higher levels got their armor and strapped it on.

"Hey, I've got dibs on the noobs' tents!" A teammate called from the crowd of blue.

"Be quiet." Hoyt said to him as he stood in front of us all, standing next to Michelle.

"Alright, guys. This is the first BTB for some of you and you need to understand your role. The lowest levels need to hold the frontline for everyone else." Hoyt called out to us.

"Why?" I asked him, forgetting my place.

"Because you're the least important." Another teammate named Cassidy told me.

"Yeah, I need to look good for my fans and I can't do that when I'm bleeding!" A teammate called up.

"There will be plenty of time for that, Shane. Just as soon as I'm done with my eyeliner…" Michelle told the loudmouth.

"Just try not to disappoint everyone, guys." Hoyt said as he and Michelle pulled their cloths to their mouths.

Hoyt and Michelle led everyone to the Great Arena, a venture that proved to be a far walk. We passed the Yellow Team, and brushed past them without even muttering a word.

"Pussies." Javier muttered to himself.

We advanced to the elevator and walked inside. It was much larger than the traditional one, complete with two more televisions. The elevator revved upwards, and I looked around my team as they made sure their armor was fastened and if their hair was right.

"Aren't you going to do something about that?" Shane asked me as he used the reflected of the television set to make sure his hair was symmetrical.

"About what?" I asked.

"Your hair, it's matted." Shane said to me.

"Does it matter?" I asked him.

"Jesus Christ, noob." Michelle sighed as she pulled out a brush and slammed it down on my hair.

"Let's hope you get another Dodson Drop with a brush and hairspray." Javier told me as he fastened his pants.

"You got a Dodson Drop on your first match? What a waste." Michelle sighed as she made sure my hair was straight.

"Her hair's fine, Michelle. Get ready." Hoyt told her.

"Thanks." I smiled at her.

"Take care of yourself next time, noob." She said coldly.

"Hey, listen-"

"How are you all today? Are you ready for yet another magical Big Team Battle in this here arena?" Bob asked the crowd.

"Of course they are, it's not like this only happens once a month!" Dave giggled.

"It actually does, Dave." Bob said to him, still trying to keep up his chipper attitude.

"I know, Bob. That was the joke."

"Well I didn't laugh."

The two sat there for a silent moment.

"This month we got ourselves a great match, Yellow and Blue. Yellow is making a name for itself with great players such as Anaconda Bill and recent up-and-comer Jinzu!" Dave told us as the cameras showed the Yellow Team elevator. I spotted a familiar face: Jinzu. He wore two metal plates on his shoulders, painted yellow. He also had a new belt, equipped with a sword holster.

"They are fighting the Blue Team, complete with everyone's favorite lovers: Big Daddy and Little Mama!" Bob pepped the crowd as the cameras showed us.

Collectively, the team posed for the camera, waving at it and smiling their big mouths at it. I sat there and stared at everyone as they showed a fake face to the cameras.

"You want them to boo us, noob?" Shane asked me angrily when the cameras turned away.

"Does it matter?" I asked him.

"You've got a lot to learn." Shane muttered.

"Right, _I'm_ in the wrong."

"Alright, kiddos. Let's get this started!" Dodson shouted as the doors opened to the cheering crowd.

I walked out front, squinting around the arena as Javier walked slowly behind me.

"Let's go, noobs! Get in front!" Shane shouted as he shoved Javier next to me.

We spotted the weapon wall and ran to it, bending down to the crates of weaponry. I opened up a box and threw the top to the side. Inside were rifles, pistols and melee weaponry. The first one that caught my eye was a black revolver with blue tiger print on the cylinder. I grabbed and looked at it in my hand.

"What the hell are you doing with my gun?" Shane asked me as he snatched it away.

"Your gun?" I asked him.

"Yeah, my signature gun. My fans would get pissed if they saw me fighting without it, dumbass." Shane said as he loaded it and pulled out the corresponding ammunition.

"Sorry, I guess my priorities are mixed up." I answered sarcastically as I looked for another.

I made a quick grab for the next gun: a tactical assault rifle painted blue with black stripes going across it.

"That's mine, Marston." Hoyt said as he grabbed the rifle.

I looked at the crate and spotted my next weapon- an M9 pistol with a blue silencer.

"Jesus, get out of the way!" Michelle exclaimed as she took her pistol and a knife and moved me out of the way.

I stood there as everyone grabbed their weapons and ammo and walked away. When I finally got back to the crates, most were empty. I rummaged around the crates to no avail. I flipped them over and dumped them around trying to find something to defend myself.

"Hurry up, yella's are going to be here any second!" Jethro called for me.

I huffed and puffed as I sat in the boxes. I slumped down and felt a prick on my thigh. I turned to my right and saw a single throwing knife pressing up against me.

"You've got to be kidding me." I sighed as I held up the five inch knife.

"Marston let's go!" Shane yelled.

I got up and held the knife in my arm, running to the front next to Javier and Amir. Javier breathed heavily and held up a baseball bat as we charged down into the crater of the arena. Amir held up a Chinese Pistol awkwardly and looked around carefully, like he did around wounded bodies. Rocks and dead trees were everywhere, leading down into the dirt hole. We marched on, seeing the Yellow Team across the arena. There were more of them than us, and held up the same tactical approach as us, as several noobs were in the front. Javier gasped for air as I could begin to make out the armors of the Yellow Team. Before I knew it, a bullet ripped through the air and sparked off a rock next to me.

Instinctively, I ducked to the rock next to me for cover.

"Marston, what the hell are you doing, get in your position and cover us!" Hoyt yelled at me as the bullets raced from both sides.

I glared back and ran out from the rock, leaving the dirt trail and going to the sides.

"Screw these guys." I muttered.

"What's this? A Blue Team noob just broke out of position and started running for her life!" Bob laughed into the intercom.

"From what I've seen of the Blue Team, that's normal." Dave said.

"Ahh, come on, Marston! Fight like a man! A wo-man!" Dodson egged me on.

I continued to run forward, my body taking over entirely. I ran from the trees, using them to cover me from the bullets. I gripped my knife and slid over a boulder and getting behind another. I popped my head up to see the Yellow Team advancing on the Blue. I ducked down and held up my Pip-Boy, closing my eyes and sighing.

"Please work." I whispered to myself.

I activated my Stealth Boy and the cloaking fizzed and rendered my invisible. I left my cover and rushed out at the Yellow Team, keeping my knife at me as I ran to the nearest team member. He held up a pistol and fired it at the team. With all my might, I threw the knife into his back as I ran behind him and held him up to his feet. The blade popped into his back as I grabbed his neck and pistol. With my cloaking now gone with my aggressive action, I fired the pistol at one of the veterans shooting an assault rifle across the field. The bullet sparked off her chest plating so I fired again quickly. This bullet went downwards into her legs and dropped her to the ground.

"In all my years of commentating, I have _never_ seen anything like this!" Dave exclaimed.

The Yellow Team turned around to me and fired their weapons at me, all at once. The smoke went off of their rifles, snipers and pistols, emptying bullets into their own teammate.

"It appears that one of the noobs have flanked the Yellow Team! How did that happen?" Dave asked.

"I don't know, Dave, why don't you go down there and find out?" Bob asked back.

I dropped the body and ducked behind a rock as they all reloaded their weapons. Behind me I heard firing and yells. The Blue Team finally advanced on them. I went out of the cover to see the Yellow Team ripped apart from shooting behind them or in front of them. Michelle ran through the fanning out team, shoving her knife into one of the stragglers and shooting the knife out of them with her pistol. Behind her came Hoyt, covering her with his rifle as they ran in together. Javier was off to the side, behind a tree and throwing his baseball bat blindly.

"You..." A voice said to me.

I turned to my right and saw Jinzu, holding a katana to his side, reflecting the lights that came from below the audience off of his blade. He ran at me with his sword out and I spun out of the way. The blade slung past my body with his strike, hitting a rock and sparking it off with force, making the light visible with the crowd of trees above us. I aimed my pistol at his chest as Jinzu regained his balance.

I heard a crack come from behind me. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, looking up at Shane as he held a bloody rock at his side.

"What are you doing? We're on the same team!" I yelled at him from the ground.

"No we're not. You are a threat to us." He told me as he lifted up the rock.

I looked to my side and reached out for my pistol. Jinzu turned around and stared at us, lifting his sword up at Shane. He thrust it forward at him and Shane deflected it with the rock, coming back with a bash to the face from the stone in his hand. Shane turned back to me quickly and lifted up his revolver at me. Jinzu stumbled forward with his sword, swinging it at both of us at the same time. The sword swiped Shane's arm as he pulled back the hammer. Shane yelled out in pain as his pistol dropped on me. Jinzu looked down at me and lifted his sword up into the air and plunged it downwards. I picked up his pistol and fired at Shane's chest, dropping him forward on top of me. I held his face up as Jinzu's sword went through Shane's torso and ended above my stomach. Now on a fight to see who can push the hardest, I pushed Shane's body up against the hilt of Jinzu's sword as he wretched it downward. The sword began to poke my stomach, and I groaned aloud as it went down into my shirt. In a last minute attempt to get it away, I moved Shane's body to the side as I rolled in the opposite direction. Jinzu grabbed his sword and pulled it up to no use: it was caught on bone and muscle. I raised my pistol at him and fired at his legs, dropping the young man to the ground. Jinzu screamed in pain, and I looked down at him, sweat coming off of the brow.

"You're lucky... he got shot… and stabbed." I told him, looking at Shane.

I turned around to see the Blue Team finishing up the still startled Yellow Team, executing them with a swift bullet to the leg.

"Well this is a sight for sore eyes!" Dodson called out excitedly.

"I found my Captain Cosmos holotape set!" He called out.

"Oh, wow. This is gonna be a great night. Oh yeah, Blue Team wins." He muttered at the end.

"You heard it from the big man himself, Blue Team wins!" Bob yelled at the fanatic crowd, going crazy with cheers and whistles.

"Blue Team breaks their losing streak with an earth-shattering win!" Dave called out.

"Yeah, that's basically what I said." Bob told his partner.

"Yeah, but I rephrased it better." Dave responded.

"So you're saying I don't know how to talk?" Bob asked angrily.

"Oh, don't get started with this, oka—" The transmission cut off as I stood facing the Blue Team.

Hoyt panted as he looked at me. "What... the hell... was that?!" Hoyt asked angrily, pointing at me.


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51: ...Comes the Spoils**

"Care to tell us what exactly that "performance" was, Marston?" Hoyt asked me after the match.

"I just don't think having the noobs taking shots for the armored people is a good idea, that's all." I told him.

"Yeah, well there's a reason why we do it! Shane died because of you, and you hid under his body like a coward!" Cassidy yelled at me, ripping off her hat in anger, exposing her long brown hair.

"Cassidy, just, just be quiet." Michelle told her.

I looked at her, and then at Hoyt. "That's not what happened at all, he-"

"Just go to bed, Marston. You're lucky I'm in a good mood..." Hoyt said as he and Michelle walked off to their house.

I sighed to myself and walked to Jethro's perch, looking up at him.

"Well I guess you did it, Marston." Jethro smiled as he plucked his afro.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"You killed two of 'em, and three if you count that whole business with Shane. And why'd you go and let that Asian boy go? Never understood why it is you all do that." Jehtro said.

"You knew about that? Then why didn't you back me up back there?" I asked him angrily.

"Because everyone hates you, Marston. And if there's one thing that I hate doing, it's vouchin' for a bitch." Jehtro said as he peeled an apple with a knife.

"Gee, thanks man." I told him with sarcasm.

"Well, you held true to my bargain, so I'll keep givin' you food." Jethro said as he tossed the apple down to me, along with a bottle of water.

"Thanks." I told him as I bit into it.

"No, _thank you_." Jethro told me.

"For what?" I asked him.

"Shane owed me five caps." Jethro smiled.

"Care to tell me why exactly you're treating this as a common problem?"

"Because it is. Now, normally, people _die_ in an assassination, 'cept you. I like you, Marston. Let's go dutch sometime." Jethro smiled.

"No thanks, I have something I need to take care of." I said as I put the apple in my pocket and carried the water bottle to Amir' office.

"Uh, yeah?" He asked me as he lifted up a blood pack to an IV.

"You're doing a blood transfusion with them?" I asked him.

"Not my blood. It's a reward for doing special matches for Dodson. Hoyt and Michelle volunteer for them, and in return, we get these O- blood packs." Amir said.

"Yellow Team's going to be out of commission for a while. And I heard Anaconda Bill has it out for someone after that match." Amir told me.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said as my eyes wound up looking at the last body there.

"Shame Shane passed in that match..." Amir sighed as he looked at a cot as a woman slept in it.

"Yeah, that reminds me, can I ask you for a favor?" I asked.

"Sure." Amir said as he sat down and threw wood into his oil canister.

"Well, lately my head's been hurting and, well, during the last match I got hit in the back of the head, and I think I might have a concussion." I told him.

"Concussion? That's not good..." Amir said as he got up and checked my head out.

"We're low on stimpaks, Sarah, so that gash is going to have to be treated the conventional way. As for the concussion... I'm sorry, but we don't have anything for that. I don't even think Skyler's going to make it, even with what we have." He apologized, sounding sad at the end.

"There's nothing I can do?" I asked him.

"Well, there is... but..."

"But what?" I asked him eagerly.

"You're going to have to get Dodson's permission. And it's dangerous Sarah, especially for you." Amir said to me.

"What does that mean?"

"Sarah... you ran away in that match. These special matches are much more different than the one we just fought in, and you're going to be fighting people who want things just as much as you."

"Thanks for the advice." I said quickly as I left the room.

"Sarah-"

I closed the door shut and walked off without skipping a beat, making my way to my tent. I bent down to my tent and opened my water bottle. I pulled my hair from hitting my face and poured the water on the head wound. I winced in pain and closed my eyes as the water went down on it. I downed the rest of the water and put the apple in the tent. I closed up the zipper flap and looked around. It was night I could feel it in the air, even with the lack of windows. I sighed and cracked my neck before beginning to walk. I walked past my team, brushing past them and saying my excuses. I then walked past Hoyt and Michelle's house, yells echoed from inside.

I heard the slurred country voice of Cassidy inside. "We can't just sit there and ignore this, Hoyt! She was there when he died, what if-"

"What if what? You saw that other guy there, he was stabbing him!" Hoyt argued.

"She was holding his gun, Hoyt." Michelle told him.

"She didn't have anything else to use, she had a throwing knife!" Hoyt argued.

"Why are you defending her?" Michelle asked him.

"Look, all I'm saying is we can't go gun-ho on someone when we're just speculating. We don't have enough people as it is." He said back.

"Because of her! I'm not sitting back and letting her take us all out!" Cassidy yelled as she left the tent.

"YOU!" Cassidy screamed at me, waving a finger at me as she stomped towards me.

"You might be holding everyone's hand here, but I'm not going to take it so easily!" She yelled at me.

"Look, you've got the wrong idea, just let me explain, please-"

"You're done explaining!" Cassidy yelled as she turned around to the Blue Team who stared at us and silently made bets.

"Who votes that we get this traitor off this team?" She asked them.

Hands flew up in the crowd from mostly everyone. I had to stand there and wait in front of them.

"Opposed?" She asked.

One hand went up from Jethro on his perch.

"Jethro, do you even know what 'opposed' is?" Hoyt asked him.

"I'm sure it's lovely this time a year." He said as he sharpened a knife fashioned from stone.

"Then it's settled." Cassidy said as she turned to me.

"Just wait a second!" I yelled at them.

"We're done waiting Sarah, I'm sorry, but we made a vote." Hoyt told me.

"We've got to do what's best for the team." He said.

Cassidy pulled out a shiv and walked quickly at me.

"Jesus Christ, reverse cowgirl, I'm trying to talk, so just lay off!" I yelled.

"Then prove it and walk away!" Cassidy yelled as she ran at me and tripped, falling flat on her head and dropping her knife.

"_Wow_, I'm leaving." I said as I stared in pity at her.

"Where are you going?!" Cassidy yelled at me.

"I'm going to prove to you guys I'm not a spy." I told the team as I walked out of the camp.

"Shouldn't have let Cassidy fight her." Hoyt whispered disappointingly to Michelle.

I walked through the crowd until I reached Dodson's elevator. I stared at the guards and they stared back.

"I want to set up a match." I told them.

They opened up the doors for me and walked inside the elevator. We accelerated up until we stopped at Dodson's office. I walked away from the guards to Dodson, who was sitting at a projector and watching a helmeted crusader and his monkey sidekick fight space aliens in a familiar pre-war television show.

"OHHH SHIT!" Dodson laughed as an explosion went off on the screen.

"Marston. What brings you here? Surely you want to see me for a special reason, yes?" He smiled crudely.

"I want to set up a match, you pig."

"And why would I do that for you?" He asked.

"Because you like me. You gave me that dead drop and the tent I use, so you obviously know who I am, so just do it."

"No idea what you're talking about, Marston, but you've got balls. Not literally, I hope, but in the figurative sense all the same." Dodson smiled.

"So, what shall be the reward?" He asked.

"Medicine. Enough for my entire team, and proper equipment."

"OOH, high stakes, huh? I like it." He smiled as he rubbed his hands together.

"Assemble at the Great Arena, why dontcha'? I'll pick your enemy." He said as he pressed buttons on his terminal.

"Whatever." I said as I walked out to the elevator and rode it down.

I exited the doors and walked to the chamber with my hands in my pocket. I breathed a sigh as I watched everyone walk and talk about their matters.

"Hey." A whisper called to me.

I looked around the many tents and people in the area, but saw no one.

"Hey." The whisper called softly yet again.

I turned around to see a young girl looking at me.

"You... you're the one from my first match." I told her.

"Uh-huh." She nodded.

"What is it, then?" I asked her.

"I know who you are, you know." She told me.

"Yeah, I just said that 12 seconds ago." I told her.

"Who you _really_ are." She said.

"How?" I asked her.

"Because... I'm your half-sister." She said.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52: Shit**

I stared at the young girl for a moment and burst out laughing. When I finally controlled myself, I stared at the girl and she wasn't smiling.

"I'm sorry, but there's no way that's even possible. There's like, five reasons that say it's not possible." I told her.

"Then let's hear them." She said as she rested against a dark corner.

"Well for one, my father would never cheat on my mother-"

"He did when he was in prison. With my mother, who's just fine now, thanks for asking." She said to me with a nod.

"Uh, two; everyone who was ever near my father is sitting in a mind controlled fugue state at the present moment or dead." I said to her.

"My mother heard about what had happened at your town, Megaton, was it? Well, she took our things up and headed out towards your father, thinking that he would now something about this-"

"So how'd you escape?" I asked her.

"She left me home while she did that, and I chose the perfect time to defect her and run away."

"I'm hoping you can fill me in on her present state. I take it she was too late to make it to Megaton." She said, folding her arms.

"My father's been dead for years. She was chasing a ghost."

"How do you know about me?" I asked her.

"Your father told her all about you when he was kidnapped, and she passed it down to me when she left that place. So for my question, what are you doing here?" She inquired.

"I'm trying to get your mother along with The Capital Wasteland back. How long did you run before being brought all the way here?" I questioned.

"I don't know. They drugged me the whole time. The only thing I remember was being brought all the way over here with all the new recruits, including Sampson." She said, looking over at the large man off to the side as he rested on a bedroll.

"He got it worse than me." She said.

"I'm sorry, but I really need to go now." I told her.

"Don't you want to know my name?" She asked me as she left her dark corner and exposed her face. She wore a red tank top that covered up her set in blood stains with straight leg jeans. A tightly packed dressing covered her shoulder, and from the looks of it, she needed to redress it again. Her face was discolored from the first time I saw her. It was more gray and lifeless, and her bags below her eyes went to the bridge of her nose.

"Not really, partly because I don't believe you." I told her as I walked away.

"What else do you have to do?" She asked.

"I'm going to do a match for medicine."

"You are?" She asked as I turned away.

"Well, if you can, can you spare some supplies for Sampson? He's not doing well and I'm afraid if he gets called on for another match-"

"He'll what?" I interrupted and turned around, "He won't tear someone like me to shreds?"

"He only does it to protect me, Sarah."

"Spare it, kid. Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work." I told her as I turned away again and walked to the Great Arena.

My eyes angered by the girl's clear hoax, I couldn't help but think about it on the walk to the chamber. She was clearly a spy, right? She was just trying to get her greatest accomplice back into power. She probably even knew about the match with Dodson. But then again, how did she know about my father? I figured I really spilled the beans with Dodson, which made him a greater enemy to me. He knew all my secrets and now he's trying to dispose of me with his spies. This made me fret in the elevator.

I had realized that I just asked him to kill me. He was going to get the most powerful person in the arena to attack me, and I couldn't stand a chance with my state. My arm still healing, my bruises still clearing, my cuts still present, I was in no shape to fight in this kind of match. My second thoughts snapped into awareness when the televisions turned on.

"Welcome everybody to tonight's one-on-one cage match, right here in the Great Arena, the home of The Multiplayer!" Bob smiled at the camera.

"Today's match is a special request for hurting, made by the same noob we saw gun down Anaconda Bill's legs, Sarah Marston!" Dave exclaimed. I swallowed hard at this.

"But don't fret good people, Anaconda Bill himself agreed to fight today's match, despite his healing injuries!" Bob added.

"Good thing our doctors here work fast, right?" Dave smiled.

"It is a fair rematch made by the ringmaster, Mister Dodson." Bob explained.

"A no holds barred cage match, just the way grandmama wanted!" Dave added.

"Yeah, right, Dave. I knew your grandmother, you lying sack of-"

"Stop flirting and let's get on with the killing, boys!" Mister Dodson's smiling face flashed at the screen.

The doors opened up slowly to the arena, and I went out running to the weapons box. I lifted open the box by undoing the latches and saw what held inside.

A dirty, rusted shovel lay within the only weapon box there. I lifted it up and stared at Dodson's screen.

"You've got to be shitting me." I sighed at it.

"Ha-ha! I love my job!" He laughed at the screen.

"You know, I'd like to attach a beautiful metaphor that explains why she has a shovel, but there isn't one. I just did it for the hell of it." Dodson said as I held it in my arms.

I walked down to the rock covered crater and looked around for my opponent. I finally spotted him ahead of me.

He was a bald old man in a yellow snakeskin jacket that was armored with painted scrap metal. He wore matching yellow and black boots and thing snakeskin pants. He stood there with a limp, and huddled in my direction painfully, stopping further away. He didn't move his legs after this, and it didn't look like he could.

"You're gonna pay for this, bitch!" He yelled at me.

He reached at his back and slung out a high powered light machine gun, painted to match his outfit. A bullet clip ran down the side and he raised it above his head and roared.

"No one skins the snake!" He yelled as he pointed the rifle at me.

I dove behind a rock as he held his finger on the trigger. A quick line of explosive bullets made it to me as I jumped at the rock, sparking off of it as the hundreds of bullets chipped away the rock.

"This day sucks." I told myself.

"Marston seems to be pinned down at a rock, not knowing how to escape the horror that is Anaconda Bill." Bob said.

"Yeah, I mean, have you seen this guy's record? Four downs in an average team match." Dave replied.

"He's the reason the Blue Team's losing streak started, right? Swept the floor with them and sent them all to the hospital." Bob conversed.

"He made Quick Kenny quit after that match, poor guy."

"Yeah, some people aren't meant for this kind of fight." Bob said back.

"Speaking of which, Marston isn't looking too good right now." Dave announced.

I realized I couldn't stay there, the rock was too thin and it chipped away from behind me. I looked to my sides as I held my shovel and spotted another rock about twenty feet away from me. I couldn't make it there without him turning me into a glorified sponge. I had to think, but the massive migraine from the explosive gun barrel interrupted that. I looked to my right and noticed the shovel in my hands. I spun it around and dug into the dirt below me. I held it in the shovel and took the end of the stick, holding the dirt out in front of me. I looked at it and then at the rock's sparks. I angled the stick to where the shots were coming from and pulled it up, catapulting the mound over the rock.

"Argh!" Anaconda Bill yelled as the bullets stopped jolting the rock and went elsewhere.

I popped up from the rock and ran closer to the blinded fighter as he tried to get a bead on me as he wiped his eyes clear of dirt. With his eyes clear, he spotted me again, and continued firing at my new rock.

"Come on out and fight me! You can't slither from the snake!" He screamed over the bullets.

"Here's a smart move, Marston used her shovel to direct dirt at Anaconda Bill!" Dave exclaimed.

"There goes to show, strategy is important, no matter where you are, and Marston shows that tonight." Bob said.

"Still gonna get shot today, though." Dodson echoed.

"Oh, yeah, right, of course." The announcers agreed.

I realized that this rock was too large, and it covered the sparks from my eyes when I went looking for them. I stuck my head close off to the side to spot where Anaconda Bill was firing from. A stray bullet went at me as I glanced at him, scraping against my arm as I turned back to the rock. I yelped and held my arm in pain, dropping my shovel for a moment.

"Got ya'!" Anaconda Bill chortled as he fired more.

"Godammit, how many bullets do you have?!" I yelled at him.

"Enough to turn your corpse into mush!" He answered.

I quickly grabbed my shovel and dug up more dirt. I held it out at him and threw it over the rock, splashing it all over his shiny head.

"Stop doing that!" He coughed.

I ran from the rock to one just a few feet in front of him. He quickly figured out my position and fired just as I could make it to the rock.

"Get any closer, and you'll get bit by the snake!" He yelled at me as he fired at the rock.

"I get it, your theme is 'snake'!" I yelled at him.

This one I could find out where he was with. I adjusted the shovel and slammed it down into the ground. It hit only hard roots and hard earth. I was under a thick tree and there wasn't any dirt around.

"This looks like the end for Marston's strategic luck." Bob told the crowd, making them cheer loudly.

I looked around for something to do, but there wasn't anything I could. Then, my brain sparked the second greatest idea this match. I lifted up my Pip-Boy and activated my Stealth Boy. The camouflage took over my body, and I sat invisible at the rock. I moved slowly to the side and spotted anaconda Bill limped over and shooting the center directly. I walked away from the rock as he continued to fire and threw the shovel at him with both hands, ending the invisible duration as it coasted from my hands. The rusted iron cracked at Anaconda Bill's head, sending him back and stopping the firing of his beloved machine gun.

"Wow! Marston has done the impossible! She has taken down Anaconda Bill!" Dave shouted.

"Get up and fight, dude! Your legs are broken, not your balls!" Dodson yelled from his screen.

"GRARGH!" Anaconda Bill shouted as he reached for his machine gun.

I sent an uppercut at his chin as he reached for it, barreling him back to the ground. I lifted his smooth jacket to my face and punched his head downward, picking him back in for another punch. The man's face twisted, and he soon grabbed me by the neck and clenched it tightly. I sent a hook at his brow and the old man went back with shut eyes, gripping my neck slightly. I grabbed his head with both hands and sent it into my knee with all my force, cracking his teeth and sending blood into the air around us. His face changed from anger into dreariness, and Anaconda Bill soon passed out onto the dirt, sending out a cloud with his fall.

"Please... don't..." He begged weakly.

I slumped down next to the man, looking down at his broken ribs and bloody face.

"Don't let me die like this... just kill me" He coughed.

I got up and looked down at him with a stolid expression, looking over at my shovel. No one has ever been 'killed' in this competition, and the audience doesn't know exactly what happens around here. The tradition of the fighters is to incapacitate, not kill, so is the tactic used to keep the audience out of the know. The income of new people and possible spies were kept under control using this method. I would be the first one to break this vow if I killed him, and I wasn't going to make people hate me more.

"I'm sorry. I don't want any more of you being taken to this place." I told him as I dropped the shovel.

"She's done it! Sarah Marston has won the match!" Bob shouted.

I exhaled once and rested on my knees, looking down at Bill's body. When I looked up, the crowd cheered and screamed in my victory from all directions, and I couldn't help but smile up at the blinding lights below them.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53: Deeds**

"Well, shit, Marston, you actually did it." Dodson told me in his office.

"Yeah, so give me what I asked." I told him.

"'kay." He said as he nodded at his guards.

In a few minutes, they rolled out an entire infirmary on wheels, complete with fresh, new medical supplies.

"There you go, don't use it all in one place." He smiled.

"Seriously, don't, you'll probably die." He added as I led the carts away, down the elevator.

I walked through the doors and led the carts down the Steamworks. Everyone stared at the medical equipment as I brought them over to the corner next to Amir' office.

"Holy..." Hoyt mumbled as the carts made it there.

"How did you get all this?" Amir asked me as he stared at it all.

"I fought Anaconda Bill." I told him.

"The guy I shot in today's match?" Hoyt asked.

"Yeah, sure, the guy you shot." I told him.

"Probably wasn't much of a fight anyway. The guy got shot in the back of his legs." Michelle said to me.

"Just take the supplies." I told them as I opened up a box full of stimpaks.

The team swarmed at the box and picked up all the stimpaks they could carry. They started to push me out of the way, but I managed to get a blind grasp on one before the box was emptied completely.

"Dammit." I sighed as I held it in my hand.

"The only thing you did today was show us you're close enough to Dodson so that he'll give you anything." Cassidy glared at me.

"That being said, thanks, Marston." Hoyt told me as the carts were pulled into Amir' office.

Cassidy looked over to him. "Hoyt, you're not seri—"

"Cassidy be quiet and take some supplies." Hoyt told her.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Yeah." I said as I looked down at the single stimpak in my palm.

"That gash isn't going to get any better, Sarah. Use it." Amir told me.

I stared at it more and thought to myself. Whoever that girl was, she knew something about me, and it naturally intrigued me. And she also needed my help- -I figured I could use that to my advantage. The other side of this cold logarithm is the bloody gash on my head that I knew was going to get infected soon. I filled out all the possibilities in my head. I knew I wasn't in the position to ask for some of the stimpaks back—no one trusts me, Cassidy said it herself. Besides, Amir was occupied with Skyler to perform the delicate fixing of my cranial area. I shook my head and brought the needle to the back of my head and squeezed the injector cushion.

I was exhilarated with a sensation that has been far long gone from me, I could feel the blissful numbness of the medication take over my head, and I smiled with my eyes closed.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to Skyler." Amir told me as he walked away.

I looked at the empty injector in my hand and threw it at a wall as I walked away to my tent.

"Hot damn, Miss Marston! You just keep surprisin' me!" Jethro smiled as he held a small bag of stimpaks as he sat on the top of his wall, his left leg hanging down as he sat on the right.

"I'm glad you're having fun." I told him.

"What's got you in a spur?" He asked me.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that I just killed a guy so everyone could trust me even less, or it's because I got one stimpak out of this." I said sarcastically as I looked up.

"Heh, well good luck with that." Jethro said as he pushed his bag of stimpaks out of view.

"What do you think about my standing here?" I asked him.

"You want advice from me? Well lemme tell you somethin', Miss. Killin' people and bringing supplies is nice, but that ain't gonna get people to trust you. You gotta take interest, you know? Haven't you got any friends, Miss Marston?" Jethro asked me.

"I'm not sure anymore." I sighed.

"Sounds complicated, don't talk to me about it." Jethro decided. "but I'm sure everyone else would enjoy it, so give it a shot."

"Let me add that to the list of crap I need to take care of." I said as I walked to my tent.

I couldn't bear to tell the girl about what I did, whether from guilt, or resentment. Sampson was just going to have to bear with the pain.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54: State of Mind**

I slept in as much as I could that week, up until a sharp crack awoke me one day. I looked up, expecting a bullet to be in my gut or head. There was no such thing about, only the silence of morning. I checked again, slowing my breaths so I could get a better sound of what was going on.

It was nothing, just a harsh joke played by myself in my subconscious. I looked at my Pip-Boy and checked the time on it: 8:53 A.M. I was worn out and tired, and there wasn't anything I could do about it, I had nothing sitting in my stomach yesterday, and it was going to be hard to ask someone to fill the void today. I pulled myself up and went out of my tent to look around the camp.

It was empty, the fire barrels gone of flame and the sounds of The Steamworks were whispers. I stretched my back and arms and started to walk forward to Hoyt's home, as he was always awake early, and one of the nicest people with food.

The morning walk was as peaceful as it could get. Small puffs of steam and dust went up with each step, the air tasted of metal, or maybe blood. My weak eyes were blurred when mixed with the fog around us. I could smell myself, and it was far from what I would want. Being a noob meant I had no access to the cosmetic and hygienic applications that the vets had available. This left me smelling of sweat, and looking like something more foul. I smelled like poignant garbage left from 2080's, and I reminded myself of the stench every morning as my mind reset the events that got me here.

I swallowed hard and tied my hair up into a messy bun so I can walk without hair in my face. I moved to Hoyt's home slowly, practically dragging myself forward reluctantly. I couldn't say I didn't like asking for handouts, this was an entirely new experience for me. It was degrading to be in here, bottom of the class with a stiff arm that feels like plastic attached to my bicep. I had to swallow my pride as best I could and ask the people that hate me to feed me. I pulled my arm to the holed out cloth that was pulled over to replace the blown out wall. As my fingers ran across the curtain, I pulled it open as I held my breath.

Something clanked behind me, and I spun my head around to see what had happened. I couldn't spot anything. No one was awake still, so I wondered what was happening. I heard stories of the other teams sabotaging rival teams, but that only happened to _good_ teams, not the everlastingly-badass Blue Team, complete with a coward and a mistrusting militia of bred killers that only care about if their asses sag.

Nevertheless, my curiosity got the best of me and I walked towards the sound, peering to my sides in case of an ambush. It came from the Amir' office, I guessed, so I took a peek inside.

The fire barrel was lit, illuminating the back of Amir as he sat, hunched forward in a chair parallel to Skyler's resting body. I opened the door, and looked down at Amir as he looked at her. I remembered what Jethro told me, I'm not going to get liked from getting supplies, because from the looks of Skyler's skinny, pale face, they weren't helping.

"She's 37." Amir told me as he looked at me.

"Born here, along with the rest of us, we sort of grew up on this team together." He continued.

"I remember our first match—we were about 24 years old each and going to a Big Team Battle. During the fight, I got my foot caught under a rock. Everyone ignored me, except Skyler. She looked out for me, even if I was too green to fight like her..."

"... She saw something in me—something I today still can't." He told me. "Hoyt told me what had happened during her last match. They left her with a bullet lodged in her lung... nobody came for her... nobody saw her for who she was." He said.

"They only cared about themselves..."

"You grew up together?" I asked him.

"We all did." He said.

"Is that you guys don't kill each other?" I asked him.

"..Yes and no."

"The only reason why there hasn't been a winner was because we can't bring ourselves to kill the people for who we had known our entire lives, and because we can't even trust those people, we're caught in a paradox." Amir informed me. "No one can do it... except people like you. Whatever made you not use that stimpak when you got it, you made the right choice in the end."

"In a good world, there has to be bad people." I said, remembering a time much like this.

"We're all conflicted, Sarah. We care too much and not enough equally. We need someone like you to change that." Amir turned around and looked up at me.

"Now... I suppose you're here for your head scans." He told me.

"It can wait, if you want." I told him.

"Be better if we get it out of the way now." Amir got up from his chair and went to the supply cart. He pulled out some sort of helmet made of wires and a syringe.

"Now, this might sting a bit, so if you want, I can give you some Med-X." He told me as he held up a needle.

"I think I can handle it. Besides, save the morphine for battle." I told him as I lay down in the extra bed.

"If you say so." He said as he strapped the inhibitor onto the front and back of my forehead. My eyes were covered with metal, and I could feel several, tiny needles stick into the edge of my skin all around my head. I twitched my legs as they awkwardly poked my head. Besides that, I felt nothing except gentle vibrations for ten minutes.

When the vibrations seceded, the good doctor took the helmet off slowly, batting his eyelashes at me as I looked around, revealed to the whole again.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks." I said as I got up and walked to the door.

I stopped and looked over to my side, where Skyler rested like a sleeping angel.

"I won't forget what you told me, Amir." I told him as my eyes went to the side and looked sadly upon Skyler.

I moved my head forward and continued out the door, walking back to Hoyt and Michelle's chambers. I looked around our sleeping area, sensing feet scraping against the ground. I whipped my head around, revealing a small girl looking at me.

"What the hell are you doing here? Are you looking to get jumped by these people?" I whispered at her angrily.

"I heard you killed anaconda Bill." She told me.

"What about it?" I asked her.

"Did you get any stimpaks for Sampson?" She asked me.

"No. There weren't any to spare, I didn't even get any, so you're going to have to ask someone else." I scoffed.

"I'm not a damsel in distress, Sarah, I can take care of myself-"

"We'll see when your shadow dies." I said, turning away from her.

"He's not dead he just needed it to speed up his healing. I thought you would have my back on this." She told me.

"I don't even know your name, and whatever ties you think we have—drop them. I don't know who you are and you don't know who I am, okay? I'm not falling for it." I walked away at the end of my sentence and looked up at the tattered walls and cloth of Hoyt and Michelle's home.

"My name's Kat." She called to me as I went into the tent.

I grunted as I walked inside the home, peeking inside the home carefully, as not to wake them if they were sleeping. I looked around to see Hoyt and Michelle sitting down on the floor, next to each other, eating slowly as they talked to each other.

"We can't let the other teams know." Hoyt explained to her.

"It can't be kept a secret, Hoyt-"

"_Listen_. I'm here to protect you, and if that means keeping your mouth shut, that's what I'm going to do. I'm not letting you do this." Hoyt told her angrily, gripping her arm.

"Morning guys." I told them.

"What do you want, Marston?" Hoyt asked quietly as he quickly released Michelle.

"I ran out of food, and I jus-"

"This isn't the time, Marston. Leave." Hoyt said, staring down at his food.

"A-Alright." I said, turning around to leave.

I walked out looking around to see if the girl was around. Not to my surprise, she wasn't. By now, the camp was bustling about gently as people awoke from their tents, yawning and whispering to each other so they wouldn't wake any other deep sleepers.

I sighed, "Now what?" I asked myself.

"A good start would be to not talk to yourself." Jethro said above me.

"How long have you been up there?" I asked him.

"Now don' go an' ask questions I don' know how to answer." Jethro told me.

"Fair enough." I slumped my arms on my waist. "You have any food?"

"Maybe, but what's innit fo' me?" He asked.

"Now _you_ shouldn't ask me questions I don't know how to answer." I retorted with a wry smile.

"Thas fine wit' me. I got an idea in mind..." Jethro said.

"I already told you before, Jethro. I'm not into you." I told him, pushing my arms in his direction.

"Thas not what I meant. Now ye see, I've been taking some a' the food and some of the rewards that no one wants and I've been cooking."

"Cooking?" I asked.

"Yep, people think ol' Jethro can't think of nothin', but I'll show 'em—with your help, Miss Marston!" Jethro smiled.

"Alright, what do you want? To try out food?" I asked him.

"Food? No, not that—I'm talking about drugs!" Jethro exclaimed, throwing up his arms.

"You want me to do drugs made from random bullshit that you don't know anything about?" I asked him.

"Miss Marston, I'm offended by these accusations! I've studied this stuff all my life, and I like to take pride in my work. But if you think all your friends here will give you food, be my guest..."

"Godammit." I said to myself.

"I'll give ya' food for every match that you play with my drugs in your system. We square?" Jethro propositioned.

"Alright. Alright, fine. Just—don't screw me over, okay?" I shook my head as I looked down at the ground.

"Good, good. Here's the first one." Jethro said as he threw me a green inhaler and some matches.

"I call it 'Ruse'." He said.

"And what is this supposed to do?" I asked him, holding the inhaler to my eyes.

"No idea. Have fun now!" Jethro smiled as he threw me down a box of vitamins and some water.

"You're giving me this already? Don't I have to use this first?" I asked.

"Nah, you're already past the point of no return, so I guess I'll share what's mine." Jethro smiled.

"So...how about that da-"

"See you later, Jethro." I interrupted, walking away as I took my daily dose of nutrients from the box.

I sat against a broken wall, contorting the inhaler to see what it was made from. I didn't know a thing about herbalism, only basic cooking and preparing. It just seemed like there was a bunch of sticky green shreds shoved into the tube so I can light it and then inject it into me. I hoped that Jethro would have been able to brew something that can help me in combat, but I was having my doubts.

"Jet? Where'd you get Jet from?" A teammate asked.

"It's not Jet. It's called 'Ruse'." I said, making the name sound spooky by lifting my hands up and elongating the word.

"That's a shame. I thought you could have been useful to us." The man said with a sneer.

I ignored him, trying not to notice the man's spotty beard and sketchy brown haircut. I recognized the man is 'Human', or Randy.

"Want to trade? Oh, wait, I forgot you're still a noob, you don't even have two sticks to make a fire." He insulted with a snicker, lowering his head.

"Yep, so if you don't mind, I'm going to stick with my drugs now." I said, putting the inhaler/injector away.

"Sure thing. I've got a stash of my own, don't you see." Randy said, pulling out some psycho.

"Not so much a stash anymore, is it?"

"You better not steal this from me like you stole Shane's gun. Get away from me." Randy darted.

"You came to me first." I said, looking at the time on my Pip-Boy.

"Good work, noob! You figured something out! Now screw off, before I fill you full of holes." Randy smiled, pointing his finger at me.

"Another genius idea by the person with no gun. Just go away, okay?" I said, getting up and walking to my tent.

"Alright then, everybody!" Randy shouted, calling over a crowd of blue to us. "It's time to train the noob! If she's going to stay, we're going to have to cannonize her so she's ready!" He called, looking at me.

"Look here, asshole. I'm tired of being treated like I'm not even part of the team. You have no idea what life is beyond these walls, so you want to fight me?! Fine, let's go!" I yelled, rising up my fists.

I sprinted at the man like a battering ram, my arms outstretched at him, until I felt the dry hands of him. He threw my off to the side in s ingle throw, landing me on my back. I winced for a moment, opening my eyes to see a foot coming down and bluntly forcing into my stomach. I let out an 'oof!' as I threw his foot off of me so I could breathe. Human reloaded his attack, coming down again on me. I rolled to my side as his foot stomped onto the cold, dusty floor, hearing more of the bets and favors.

I moved to my feet, crouched down and looking at the man, slapping my arm forward with a punch. In return, he weaved himself out of the way and came around with a hook to my cheek. I felt my jaw as Human grappled my shoulders. Then, out of nowhere, he grabbed my arm and threw me before I knew what was going on. I then lay on the floor, on my stomach, looking up at the man as the Blue Team watched with judging eyes. My body told me to take the defeat, but my mind took control, pushing me up to my feet to take another beating. Human advanced on me and spun out a roundhouse. I lifted my arms and protected my head from a blow. Glaring my eyes at the man as I grinded my teeth, launching out with all my fury a right hook that landed perfectly on the brow.

Human blinked for a second, and his eyes met mine. I knew then that he was only warming up before.

"C'mon… I'm not done yet." I muttered.

"Blue Team and Purple Team, please report to the lake arena for my favorite match, 'Sepulcher' in Arena 9!" The intercom blasted.

The entire team looked up at the intercom, and acted as if nothing happened, moving away from the circle and going over to Hoyt and Michelle, who were standing in the back, arms crossed, and eyes low.

"Marston!" Hoyt called out to me.

"What?" I asked him.

"You do something that stupid again, I'll kill you myself, we clear?" He waved his finger.

"Guess this was all my fault, Hoyt." I told him with smug sarcasm.

"Good. You're with _us_ today." Michelle said as she called me over to her, walking to the arena as she put on her armor.

"Why?" I asked.

"You heard him… it's time to train the noob." Michelle nodded quickly.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55: Ruse**

We gathered up in the elevator, and I waited while everyone fixed their hair and made themselves looks pretty.

"Who stayed behind this time?" Human asked Hoyt.

"Doc and Jethro." Michelle answered for him.

"Not Jethro! Dammit." Human mumbled as he stretched his arms, and took off his shirt.

Human exposed to me a body ridden with black and blue tattoos, along with matching bruises. They stretched out far, making wispy lines all over his body, indicating his veins and arteries, and highlighting his organs on his body. Human tied his blue shirt over his arm and made a tight blue band on his flexed bicep.

"Gotta girl in row four, you know." Javier told a teammate Sandy.

"See if she can get help us in this match." Sandy replied in a calm voice.

"Idiot, she's in the audience, we don't talk." Javier said.

"Oh, okay." Sandy told him.

"Just shut up and make me look good." Javier said as he handed her a hairbrush.

"Not a person in the world can help you with that." Cassidy said from behind them, sparking a rumbling laughter in the elevator as it moved up.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just you wait, my girl and I are gonna win this thing. You just watch. Today's my time to shine." Javier said, cracking his knuckles.

"Welcome, welcome, to my magical house of pain! Warn your kids!" Dodson's voice laughed on the screens.

"We've got a favorite of mine today, Sepulcher Down By the Sea. But before I can force feed you intense awesome extract, I need help from my two favorite guys, Bob and Dave!" He continued.

"Thanks, Mister Dodson. " Dave said as the screen showed the two men.

"If you don't know this game mode already, let us help you out. Both teams are tasked with locating the damsel in distress, away from the land, and near the water. But wait! There's a crap ton of catches!" Dave smiled.

"You got that right, Dave. The faster team needs to defend their sepulcher cracker as they release their damsel and take them to their elevator. But you're not going to be fighting the other team through this, oh no!" Bob shook his head.

"Mister Dodson has a special surprise for everyone in his game modes, so beware teams!" Bob warned us.

"With us today is the coming up, Blue Team, with favorites such as Big Daddy and Little Mama! That's it, no one else is that famous..." Dave said.

"Going against them is the Purple Team! With famous people such as Fernando Augustus and his army of little helpers!" Bob cheered.

"Stop talking. Start killing." Dodson said as the doors went open and a buzzer sounded.

We ran out to the dead drops that were over to the right. I purposely let myself fall behind and forced to wait in the back on others as they scrambled for their weapons, leaving the lower ranked people in the back of the group of people. As everyone pushed them away from each other, I went into my pocket and pulled out the Ruse syringe. I pulled out my arm and sighed to myself, sticking it in and beginning the injection.

"Hey, what's that?" Javier asked as a person threw him out to the back along with me.

"That's what makes you do better?!" He asked angrily.

"You want some? Here, take the rest. It's still got a good amount there." I hushed him, handing him the needle.

"Cooooool." Javier smiled as he took the syringe into his arm and took the whole dosage at once.

"Good. That's probably not gonna screw you over." I said, turning away from him.

I walked over to the now empty dead drop, moving through the reloading people and their weapons. I ducked my head into the large bin and looked around.

"Are you coming?" I asked Javier.

"Just a second. She's coming to see me." Javier smiled as he looked up at the spotlights below the bleachers of cheering people.

"O-kay." I said to myself as I looked into the box.

Most of the guns were gone, except for a few weapons made from scrap and old, soggy wood. I rummaged around and pulled out a bent and rusted knife, one that looked sharp and sparkling silver in its prime, but now is browned and chipped away, and all remnants of its past life now gone. I tucked it away into my pocket and scrutinized for more weapons.

"Marston! On us!" Hoyt called me over as he made sure his scope was aligned.

I pushed more things out of the way until a led pipe unearthed what seemed like the only gun in the dead drop. It was a wooden hunting rifle, with the firing bolt-action system rusted, and the stock coming apart. I picked the rifle up and its corresponding ammunition and loaded in the .308 calibers into it, pulling back the firing mechanism. Something else then caught my eyes, a small box behind the crate. I pushed the large box away and opened the box. I sighed, seeing only some nails, a bottle of whiskey, a drained microfusion cell and an almost empty lighter.

"What kind of half-sister would give me this crap?" I asked myself.

"Javier, you alright?" I asked him.

"He... her from me." Javier said, looking blankly across the muggy swampland arena with dying grass and a low fog.

"What?" I asked him, my hearing cutting out.

"Him." Javier said, pointing across the field as a large group of shadows came closer to us.

"It's Augustus! We need to move, now!" Hoyt yelled.

"Marston, forget him! Let's go!" Michelle yelled as she started running downhill to the left of us.

I looked at Javier as he lumbered towards Augustus. I shook my head and started running along with the two, same as the rest of the team.

"Who's got the sepulcher cracker?" Hoyt asked.

"Cass does." Michelle answered.

"Cass, run ahead and get started. Fernando's chariot will get there later, that'll at least give us some time." Hoyt decided.

"Got it, boss." She said as she ran off.

"I'll go with her." Michelle said as she ran ahead.

"No." Hoyt said, gripping Michelle's arm as she tried to run after Cassidy.

"You're staying with me." Hoyt decided.

"But-"

"That's final." He glared at her.

Off to our right, the shadows got bigger, some smaller. I couldn't help but look in awe as an army of purple came out from the fog. The most notable figure was a large wooden bed being carried by the team, a large group of small people, no more than three feet tall. A single shadow lay in the bed calmly, wearing what seemed like a purple sheet across his torso and a golden twig in his hair. This man was average sized, and the leader from the looks of it.

I looked off behind me and saw Javier, walking angrily towards the chariot by himself.

"Marston. Don't get any ideas. You're staying here and fighting." Hoyt told me as he crouched in front of Cassidy and aimed his single shot rifle at the murky waters that ended right at the cryptic coffin that was greened from algae, or radiation. Dodson looked down at the fight with a nod.

"I love Poe, really do. But then again, the only thing I read in my life was a repertoire of his work, but still—cool guy, shouldn't have messed around with his cousin, but, whatever." Dodson said coyly through the intercoms.

"Come on, Cass, let's go!" Human yelled at her.

"I'm trying my best, this crap's tough shit!" Cassidy said as she slammed the metal bar on the lock.

"If its shit you're getting then it should be soft, right?" Sandy asked carelessly.

"Not the time, Sandy." Michelle said gently to her, even smiling.

"Oh. Okay." She said as she looked up at the fogged away lights above us.

"Blue Team makes it to the sepulcher first, that'll give them an advantage." Bob's voice echoed through the arena.

"Not much, Purple Team's a force to be reckoned with. Augustus and his crew have a three win streak so far." Dave disagreed.

"I'm just trying to look on the bright side, here." Bob said to co-worker.

"There's not 'bright side' in here, Bob." Dave said sternly.

"Fine, I don't care, then. Forget I said anything." Bob sighed.

"I think I've almost got it!" Cass said.

The air around the radiated water started to get to me. My vision fogged up more and my head became clouded. I breathed heavier and my eyes started to dot around rapidly.

"What's the matter with that kid?" Michelle asked as Javier walked to the chariot.

"He was never much, I guess he finally realized his worth." Hoyt said as he shook his head.

"I think... I got it!" Cassidy said to my ears as the sepulcher clanked.

I looked ahead as the two figures met in the fog. Javier stood there in from of the chariot, looking up at Augustus.

"You!" Javier yelled at him.

Augustus waved his well-built hand, signaling for his small troops to not attack and lower his chariot.

"Hello there. Is there something you require?" Augustus asked Javier.

"You won't take any more of my land." Javier said, sniffling in and holding his forehead.

"Ah, so this is the best the Blue Team can throw?!" Augustus yelled down to the sepulcher.

"I've seen better from a dying madman, which is just what I'm about to see." Fernando said arrogantly, holding his hands behind his purple sheet.

"Let me have him. Men, go after the sepulcher." Fernando said as he walked ahead to Javier, and faced him.

"This can be good for us—it open—sidy." Hoyt's voice flickered for a moment.

"Need help with this!" Cassidy said.

"Marston! Do something already!" Cassidy yelled at me, breaking my trance and snapping me into reality.

I turned around and grabbed the sepulcher's metal, pulling it up with all my strength, only moving it slightly as we both tried to yank it open.

"Ahh! The midgets! I love those guys, this is gonna be great!" Dodson laughed in the intercom.

"Michelle, Sandy and Randy, diamond formation. Protect the sepulcher!" Hoyt yelled over the building roar of people as they ran towards us in the fog.

"Come on! Try—harder!" Cassidy groaned.

"I'm trying!" I groaned back.

High pitched yells advanced on us, and made the team shoot and yell behind Cassidy and I tried the coffin open.

"What's mine is mine, leave her alone!" Javier yelled over the battle.

"It's about time the Blue Team goes out of commission...and it starts with you." Augustus said as he walked closer to Javier.

"NOT WHEN I'M STILL THE QUEEN!" Javier shouted as he threw his body at Augustus, tackling his to the floor.

"These guys are so cute!" Sandy smiled.

"Shoot them!" Hoyt yelled as he threw a midget off of his back, and kicked one into the water.

"It's almost there! Keep going!" Cassidy yelled as we breathed and panted heavily.

"Their flanking our left!" Michelle yelled.

"You know what? This fight's boring, so I'm just going to blast Safety Dance by Men Without Hats until you guys are done fighting." Dodson said boringly as he blasted the retro music.

"Spread out and surround the objective!" Hoyt ordered as he pulled out a knife and ran it through a midget, lifting her up into the air and slamming her down into the ground, only for it to be ripped out again and slashed through the stomach of another midget. Michelle popped off three midgets in the stomach with her pistol and spin kicked three in which surrounded her, successfully knocking them down.

Human held a pistol in each hand and fired away at the horde of little people, reloading his pistols quickly after the clips emptied. Sandy stood closest to Cassidy and I and fired at a few midgets here and there, only to get distracted and shoot at another one, leaving a wounded midget to run into Michelle.

Javier hopped on Augustus' back and scratched his head up as he let out a long, guttural battle cry.

"Get this cat-person off of my hair!" Fernando yelled as he swatted at Javier.

"She's my flower! She knows me!" Javier yelled into the sky above us as he pinned Fernando into the ground.

The sepulcher flew open, and Cassidy and I breathed heavily as we looked inside. My hand went into the coffin and pulled on the skin of someone. I yanked them up and to my face. I looked into the eyes of a man with a patchy brown hairs on his chin and unkempt hair that has been left alone for a while to the hot box that was his coffin. Running make-up was placed all over his face and had a blonde wig taped to his head. He sweated everywhere and looked highly delirious and dehydrated. He looked somewhat scared and surprised as he patted down his green shirt and blue jeans.

"Oh shit, Lennie?" I asked him.

"Huh?" Lennie asked me.

"WATCH OUR RIGHT!" Hoyt screamed as he shot into the water.

Out of nowhere the water emerged groups of Slotters, Nappers and other deformities I thought were lost all the way in Florida.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!" I yelled as I carried him on my shoulder.

"They've got the package, let's go!" Hoyt yelled at the team.

"Javier!" Michelle yelled at him as he punched down Fernando.

"I just heard her!" Javier exclaimed, getting up from Augustus and looking around.

"I'm with you, my sweet!" He danced.

Augustus looked up at Javier and got up slowly; moving at him and kicking him in the back of the knee, making him fall to the ground. Augustus returned punches and kicks at the downed Javier.

"I can't get a shot with this!" Michelle yelled.

"Trade up..." I breathed.

We threw each other our weapons at the same time and I caught Michelle's pistol with my right free hand. I fired the gun at the slow walking Slotters and the occasional midget while Cassidy pulled out her revolver and covered us. I looked down at Lennie as he closed his eyes and slumped down, going limp.

"Hey, hey. You're okay, you're ok-"

Before I could finish my sentence, my eyes blinked, and I found myself sitting in a white room in a chair, my arms free and my body feeling fine. I looked into another room and saw a figure walk at me. It was my father, but he looked different. He was skinny and pale, barely holding himself up as he rested his hand on a glass wall and looked at me. His hair was falling out and his full beard was ice white.

"You were born to do great things," He said as he body flashed and turned into Cyanide, surrounded by burned bodies riddled with white phosphorus smoke.

"my daughter." Joe finished for me in a grim and serious face, a low voice, flickering into Carrie as she vomited blood onto the glass as he bleeding neck wound looked at me.

"You're keen," Zeke's face was present now "to leave your friends to die." Rilee said, covered in scars and sweating as she held a knife in her hand. I could hear my father echo "Born to do great things" in my ear below the voices.

"We'll see," Marge's face showed me "who the victor is." Dodson's smiling face looked at me as he laughed over the low, faint whispers.

"There won't be." He said as the room rumbled like an earthquake and flashed his face through I faces—Joe, my father, my mother, Lennie, Rilee, finally stopping at a reflection me.

I was on my feet now, no more than half a foot away from my own face. My head was shaved and cut up, exposing bare flesh. I was covered in tattered armor and blood, my lips where white and chapped, my eyes yelled and red on the bottom.

"You weren't born for anything." My doppelganger whispered to me, moving her face close to me, going straight through the glass and making it disappear.

"COVER THE RIGHT!" Hoyt shouted in front of me, changing away from my own face and snapping me back to the battle.

I looked around and saw Michelle aiming my rifle at Augustus through the fog as he punched down at Javier. I looked at her back as she breathed and squeezed the trigger. She was tackled as the bullet left the chamber, going off to the left and skimming Augustus' back, making him arch his back up, leaving him open for Javier to hook him in the cheek and throw him off of him as the song in the arena stopped.

"Ah… it was a simpler time." Dodson smiled.

Below me Michelle was attacked by a Napper. It grabbed his from the back and launched itself out of the air towards the water.

"Michelle!" Hoyt yelled as he ran away from us through the crowd of Slotters.

"Oooh! This is getting good! I love this game!" Dodson laughed.

"This looks like the end for Little Mama and Big Daddy folks. Once in the horde, there ain't no getting out." Bob said.

"What ever happened to the bright side?" Dave asked him.

"I got molested by a swamp man when I was a child." Bob replied with a sob.

"Jesus, what the hell, man?"

The crowd gasped above us as Hoyt's head disappeared through the dozens of Slotters.

"HOYT!" Cassidy yelled as he let go of Lennie's left arm and ran into the group.

"Cassidy, don't!" I yelled, holstering my pistol as I tried to pick up the almost passed out Lennie.

Eventually I had to drop him on a rock, and look at him as Human and Sandy covered us.

"What's going on?!" Human shouted as he fired his pistols all around.

"I think we're being surrounded..." Sandy said gently as she shot her shotgun into the crowd.

"Lennie, can you cover me?" I asked him, putting Michelle's pistol in his weak hand.

"Don't talk to me." He breathed heavily as he aimed it up weakly and shot.

I went into my pockets frantically and laid out Kat's drop next to Lennie: the bottle, energy cell, lighter, and nails. I closed my eyes and tried to think of what to do as the battle raged behind me. Then, my mind sparked a plan. I opened my eyes and spotted Lennie drinking the bottle of whiskey as he fired.

"Give me that!" I yelled as I yanked it from his mouth.

"Ass." Lennie mumbled.

I took my finger through one of the holes in my shirt and ripped the blue cloth out. I poured the nails into the whiskey and tied the microfusion cell around the end of the blue cloth and dunked the cell into the bottle.

"What a waste of booze..." Lennie sighed as he fired the pistol.

"That doesn't look good for Big Daddy!" Dave shouted.

"JAVIER!" I yelled over the battle to him. He turned around from Augustus' unconscious body and ran to me.

"Take him to the elevator, now!" I ordered to him.

"Of course, princess fire hand." Javier said as he carried Javier away.

"GET TO THE ELEVATOR!" I yelled to Human and Sandy.

"Hoyt and Michelle still need help!" Human argued.

"Just go!" I yelled at them.

The two listened and helped walk to the elevator.

"The Blue Team might actually win this one, people!" Bob cheered.

"But it seems at the cost of their two best players, Bob." Dave reminded him.

"I try to make it happy for everyone, and you just shoot it down." Bob mumbled.

I picked up the lighter and sparked it several times until a flame grew in front of my face.

"Please work." I whispered.

I began to hold it down to the bottle when a hard thing swung at my stomach and sent me flying off to the side, dropping my lighter. I looked up at a tall, mutated creature that lost its face to the water radiation. The only thing I could make out was its tall, thick legs, and it's right arm, that stretched down to its feet, and had to drag across the floor as it searched around for me. The arm was bigger than me, and much more thick.

"To-tally forgot I put a Lumberer in the mix. Oops. My bad. Since this is the only audio tape we have, I'm just gonna play Safety Dance again." Dodson said as he rewound the music.

I pulled out the rusted knife and held it in my hand, the bottle in the other as I looked at the lighter behind the Lumberer. I crouched down and activated my Stealth Boy on my Pip-Boy as the Slotters surrounded me, hindering me camouflaged to the Slotters. The Lumbered, on the other hand, moved his arm around on the ground, feeling around for the vibrations of my feet. I went around the horde that I narrowly escaped from and moved slowly to the lighter. Above me, the Lumberer threw Slotters and other mutants away with its colossal arm, not caring whose side he was on. Behind me, the surviving midgets went to the aid of Fernando and helped him up.

I moved close to the Lumberer, moving around his giant feet and grabbing the lighter. I walked away from the horde as my stealth field went down, exposing me to the mutants again.

I bent down and sparked the lighter multiple times before the flame came on. I lit the bottle's cloth and held it in my right hand, standing up and gripping my knife in my left. I walked closer to the water as the mutants walked at me. I stabbed the knife into the multiplying Slotters as I made sure the bottle was close to Hoyt and Michelle as possible.

I slashed one's neck on my left, and stabbed a Slotter on my right, throwing off Nappers that came from the group. Soon I spotted the top of Hoyt's head as he tried to wretch Michelle from the Napper in the water. I held up the bottle and pushed away the Slotters throwing the bottle near the fight. As the bottle hit the ground, it exploded in a plasma blast that sent nails all around, setting everything else on fire and spreading it all around.

I looked up at a swinging Lumberer arm as it smacked into my head, knocking me onto the floor.

When I opened my eyes, I was on a hard, cold floor, looking up at an orderly as he snickered at me.

"Come on, get up and fight, retard!" He egged me on.

I got up and threw a punch at him, and he grabbed it, kicking me in the stomach and sending me back. When I looked up, I saw Rilee and Lennie looking up at me, their faces scared and unusually clean as they tucked themselves behind a table in their cozy asylum clothes.

"Haha—his legs—she can't d—I had a plan!" The burly orderly spoke in different tongues as he grabbed my arm and twisted it, making me scream in pain.

"Come on, -you got Rilee kille—just giving you an evaluation!" He laughed.

"Please, please stop!" I sobbed as he let me go into the ground, sending me back down.

I opened my eyes to a circle of fire, above me, the Lumberer was flaming, swinging his arm wildly around. I rolled out of the way as the flaming arm hit the ground, rumbling my entire body. The Lumbered went down to his knees and finally dropped down in the circle of flaming dead Slotters. I covered my mouth from the smoke and coughed, looking around for a way out. I could see one anywhere, only flames.

"Looks like Little Marston has gotten herself into a pickle." Bob announced.

"What's a pickle?" Dave asked.

"Shut up." Bob sighed.

I coughed wildly as my eyes tear up from breathing smoke. The Slotters feral instincts made them run at me on fire, swinging their arms around. I looked around for my knife, but it was gone. I panicked and started running around, only draining my lungs of more air. My hearing was going away from shellshock, and the only thing I could hear now was the cheers of the crowd in the stadium above me. I looked up to them, but the Lumberer blocked my way. I stared at his long arm and ran at it, an idea fresh in mind. I climbed on the arm and ran across the Lumberer, over the circle of fire and jumped off onto the ground. I looked to my right and saw Hoyt behind Michelle, fighting the Slotters off with a knife, their weapons holstered.

I saw Hoyt point his finger somewhere and heard an order from him. Michelle looked at him for a moment, and then was pushed forward from him, making her run towards the elevator with Cassidy.

"Hoyt!" I coughed.

"Come on!" I yelled at him.

He didn't seem to hear me, as he continued to walk backwards and fend off the few Slotters that survived the explosion.

I sprinted at the elevator as the flaming Slotters chased after me, screaming their dry cries of pain and anger as their tried to claw me from a distance. Hoyt turned away from the Slotters as he realized he was surrounded. Michelle and Cassidy went into the elevator, followed by me. We huddled in the back, reloading our weapons and preparing to fight them off as Javier played with something in the air.

"Call the elevator!" Human yelled.

"We're not leaving Hoyt!" Michelle yelled.

"We'll die if we wait here!" Human yelled back.

"He's almost here, just give him a chance!" Cassidy yelled as she pointed by Hoyt as he ran at us, close behind him were the flaming Slotters.

"Screw this." Human said as he pressed the elevator button.

"No!" Michelle yelled as the elevator doors closed slowly.

Hoyt and the mutants disappeared from view as the top of the elevator came down at the ground. Hoyt grinded his teeth as he ran at the door, ducking from the team as they covered the faster Slotters and Nappers. The door only had about a few feet to go and Hoyt slowed down from tiredness. As Hoyt reached the door, it slammed down shut before he reached it.

"Hoyt no!" Michelle sobbed as she was held back by Human.

Bombs were heard from the door as it slid open, revealing a sweaty, scratched up Hoyt trying desperately hard to crawl through the door. He screamed in pain as the flaming Slotters went down on his legs.

"Help him in!" I yelled as I grabbed the door.

Michelle grabbed his arms and pulled him from the Slotters that tried to do the same thing. Lennie, on the floor, fired at the Slotters on Hoyt, removing them from his legs as Hoyt cried out in pain from the flames and fell back. He looked up at Michelle in unbearable pain where she yanked him as hard as she could, looking back in sadness and agony as the arms didn't reach Hoyt, but burnt his legs from the closeness of the fire. The team lifted up the doors as the hums of the mechanisms of the elevator initiated, bringing the cart down. Our muscles ached from pulled the heavy blast doors up, and Hoyt was soon getting crushed from the pressure. Javier got up instantly, and grabbed onto the doors, groaning as he lifted them up, letting Hoyt slip in away from the Slotters' burning paws. The doors slammed down on a Slotter's hand, chopping it off and having it land on the metal floor. Javier picked up the hand and put it in his back pocket, humming a tune as his eyes began to realize he was drugged.

"An amazing feat by Blue Team, barely escaping the arena with their team and most importantly the damsel! This is a fight to be talked about for months to come!" Bob shouted.

"Yeah, yeah congrats, Blue Team. Live it up while you can." Dodson said in the screen.

"Hoyt?" Michelle asked him as she held him on the ground still.

"Wait, what just happened?" Javier asked everyone.

"Why the hell is there a hand in my pocket?!" He yelled.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56: Nor Shall Death Brag Thou Wander'st In His Shade**

"Oh, god, his legs..." Cassidy gasped as she held her mouth, looking down at Hoyt's burnt and bloody feet. His toes were melted off and the toenails were burnt and hanging. His shoes were burnt off, along with his pants, going all the way up to his ankles until finally returning into its normalness.

"We need to get him to the doctor. Give him a stimpak." Randy told Michelle.

She pulled out a stimpak and injected Hoyt's legs with him, making him wince in pain as he continued to look at his carrier in mortification. He breathed in heavily as tried his best to rest on the metal floor.

The elevator doors soon opened to Dodson's guards, aiming their weapons at us.

"Relinquish your weapons, now." One ordered.

Michelle carried Hoyt, letting her rifle down so Sandy could pick it up and give it to the guards. I gave my knife to them as everyone gave away their pistols and weaponry.

"Here, I don't want to try this anymore." Javier said as he gave me the empty Ruse injector.

"Thanks." I said as I turned and picked up Lennie's pistol and gave it to the guards.

"You okay?" I asked Lennie.

"No. Get me back to my team." He said as I helped him up.

"We can help you Lennie, we've got supplies." I told him.

"I don't _need_ any more of your 'help'. 'Cause the way I see it is your 'help' got Rilee killed." Lennie glared at me as he pushed me away.

"Lennie, come on-"

"Save it." Lennie said as he walked away.

I would have complimented his lack of "an's" and "shucks", but it wasn't the time. I sighed and caught up with the team as they helped Hoyt into the doctor's office.

"Oh God, what happened?" Amir asked.

"He was set on fire." Michelle told him as she laid him out on the bed.

Hoyt was on the brink of consciousness, looking around for Michelle as hands placed him on the cot. Amir took out his equipment and started studying Hoyt's eyes and wounds quickly.

"Did you give him stimpaks?" He asked Michelle.

"Yes." She said.

Hoyt grunted loudly when Amir put pressure on his legs with his tools and medicine. I heard a crack of bone as Amir set it back into place, making him scream out in pain, and fall onto the bed, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Where's Skyler?" Sandy asked Amir.

"Everyone give me some space!" Amir yelled at us, shooing us out of the office.

Now outside, we looked around each other, sitting at the fire pit silently as Randy got it started.

"You think he'll be okay?" Sandy asked Michelle.

"Yes, I'm sure of it." She told her.

"She's dead, you know... Skyler." Randy told us.

"Shut up, Randy." Cassidy told him as Sandy looked sadly at him, like a small child.

"I'm just saying. That's the second person gone in the last few months. With Hoyt out, how are we going to stand a chance?" He asked us.

"We'll get replacements for Shane and Skyler soon." Michelle said.

"How soon? Dodson hates us, he just wants all of us dead, he almost got his wish today, too!" Randy fought.

"What do you want me to do, Randy? I'm just one person!" Michelle yelled.

"I want you to do something!" Randy yelled back.

"I can't do anything about it, Randy, you know that! We're still working on getting you guys soap and hairspray!" Michelle screamed.

"Guys, come on, calm down." Cassidy said.

"Shut up! It's about time we start doing something, if you won't get us the stuff I want, I'll do it myself!" Randy pointed to himself.

"Guys, shut up!" I yelled at them.

Everyone hushed down and stared at me, and the only thing heard was the crackling of the fire.

"I get it, you guys are pissed off, I am too, but we can't sit here and blame ourselves! The only reason why we're all here is because every one of you can't understand that the point of this game isn't to look good and win, it's to get out of here. The only reason why we're here is because you don't see that the bad guy is Dodson, not the other teams! Yeah, we get it, Hoyt's out of commission, that doesn't mean we're screwed. We need help here, and the only way we're going to get it is by going in and taking it. Because fighting amongst ourselves is..."

"A waste of energy." I said, lowly.

The team stayed silent for a moment, looking down, or at each other.

"I forgot her name." Sandy mumbled to herself.

"Little Miss Marston?" A voice asked behind me.

"What do you want?" I asked one of several armed guards, belonging to Dodson.

"We have your rewards here." He said roughly as his men held out several boxes and opened them up for us.

"About time." Randy said as he walked over.

"I hope I got something..." Javier moaned as he rubbed his eyes.

Every box they held out had tags over them with each of our full names on them, middle initial included, maybe not to confuse. I walked to mine, Sarah J. Marston and looked inside. The case held what seemed like clothes.

"Congratulations to your rank ups and specialization options. We wish you the best of luck in your...whatever." The soldier sighed, giving up on his clearly mandatory sentence.

I picked out a blue and black scarf, one that matched Hoyt and Michelle's and tied it loosely around my neck so it can be picked up to my mouth later. Next in the case were new pants. These seemed more together, but still had a white paint stain. They felt loose, and rough, like denim. I threw the black pants over my shoulder and looked in the case for anything else. The only thing left, a small knife holster that straps around the thigh. Emptied due to the rules of the arena, I picked it up and closed the case, just as everyone else did.

"An orange spray can? What am I supposed to do with this?!" Javier asked angrily to the soldiers.

"Nice, I got an extended magazine for my pistols and a hip holster!" Human smiled.

"Can't wait to celebrate with a little-" Randy stopped speaking as he noticed the guards still looking at him.

"...R and R..." He said as he walked away.

"What's this?" Sandy asked.

"That's a can of glitter, Sandy." Cassidy told her.

"Oh. Ok." Sandy said as she closed her case and walked away.

"What'd you get?" Sandy asked Cassidy.

"Brand-new strawhide hat. Looks fancy, huh?" Cassidy said as she sported it.

"I'm sorry, I stopped listening a while ago." Sandy said honestly, with no intent on being rude.

"What did you get, Michelle?" Cassidy asked her as she closed her briefcase and let the guards walk away.

Michelle's back faced me, and the only thing I could see was her head facing down, looking at what she got in her hands. With no response, we moved around Michelle to see what the problem was. We advanced on her until we all stopped, staring down at her hands.

Michelle looked blankly down at a brand new leg cast with a tag coming off of it, saying "For Hoyt".


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57: Holiday**

"What do we do with it?" Javier asked.

"What do you think? We use it." Cassidy told him.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Randy asked Cassidy.

"But didn't we just get all pumped on the 'Dodson's the bad guy' speech?" Randy asked us.

"Not really." Michelle told him.

"What's that, ya' got over there?" Jethro yelled from his perch.

"Cat vomit wrapped in saran." Javier called back.

"Oh." Jethro said as he went back to throwing an apple against a wall in front of him.

"I say we trash it, show Dodson that we aren't weak." Randy proposed.

"Are you kidding me? Hoyt needs something like this! This whole team needs it!" Cassidy exclaimed.

"Guys, let's just vote." I told them.

"We're using it." Michelle told us blankly.

"Wai-what?" Randy asked her.

"He needs this, and I don't care who I got it from, if it's going to help him, I'm using it." Michelle told us.

"Michelle-"

"Randy, I've made my decision." Michelle told him.

"Are you kidding me? This team is unified, Michelle! You're not supposed to make decisions like this!" Randy yelled.

"It's not your decision to make, Randy." Michelle said to him, getting her professional tone back into effect.

"Bullshit, it isn't!" Randy yelled, pointing at the ground.

"That's enough. Go to bed, everyone." Michelle said as she went into Amir' office.

We all stood still, scattered and looking at ourselves.

"I'm going to bed." Cassidy announced as she walked away.

"I'm sleepy, too." Sandy yawned as she walked away.

"I think I'm still drugged." Javier mumbled as he ran to the bathroom bucket.

"So..." Randy said, turning his attention to me.

"What's this about 'going in and taking it'?" He smiled viciously.

"I meant that about Dodson." I told him.

"Oh." Randy said, looking down at the floor.

"I'm gonna go get high." Randy said as he walked away.

I looked around the camp to where everyone left by myself and sighed.

"This place sucks."

I walked over to Jethro's perch and threw up my empty syringe, making him catch it quickly.

"Hmm. Good work, Miss Marston. Did it work the way I intended?" He asked me.

"Sure did." I told him with a nod.

"Good. I'm brewin' up the next batch or random drugs, so I'll let ya' know when it's done." Jethro told me.

"Nice job." He told me as he dropped military rations, still compacted in their wrap.

I tilted them up to Jethro, and nodded at him as I walked to my tent and ate it up, leaving the scraps for breakfast. I tucked them under my pillow, and proceeded to change into my new clothes. I then sat in front of the fire pit, sitting down and staring at the crackling fire as I enjoyed its warmth.

As I basked in the orange blow, I started to think to myself—about what I said to the team. I had thought it was just something I yelled in the moment, but then I realized it was much more than that. We were digging ourselves into a deep whole for generations, from the looks of it, while Dodson gained money from it. I had so many questions, but no time to ask them... so many ideas and no paper to write them down. It was then I remembered my younger days.

My father was kidnapped and brought to fight for an army. Everyone kept out of the true plans so one person can benefit from it entirely. History was repeating itself, and I knew that I couldn't make the same mistakes my father did. I just hoped I wasn't too late to stop it from happening again.

I've studied my father's actions in life like a textbook, and I knew that the only way to get out of the arena was to band together and force ourselves out. But I knew I couldn't do it with the Blue Team—I knew I couldn't do it by myself. I had to find my friends and get the teams to join together. The only way I could do that was to help them.

That's when it hit me—Kat was helping me for this reason, and I couldn't ignore what she's done.

I got to my feet and walked past the fire, around the great arena, looking around in the rainbow sea for the first color of it. A red shirt caught my eye and I immediately followed it. The person was turned away from me, and walking through the crowded arena. I brushed people on the shoulders, moving through them as I struggled to follow the crimson person. I fell back in the crowd, losing my sights on the red with a mix on all colors. I tried to start running, but the teams didn't appreciate a noob running through them—they pushed me out of the way into other people who exchanged an insult at me as they pushed me to the next person in the chain. They spun me in circles as the shoves came from all over. Soon I exited the thick crowd, spinning around into a large fist.

I found myself on the ground, moaning from the sucker punch that hit me like a rock. I then felt myself being picked up from the stomach. I was then on my feet, staring at Sampson as he had a chokehold on me.

His face was anger covered in cuts, bruises, and bandages. He growled at me and then winced in pain, letting go of me as he felt one of his wounds in pain. Sampson's face was tired, and he walked backwards, his eyes squinted slightly, still looking at me.

"It's alright, Sampson." Kat eased him into a cot where he grunted, glaring at me still.

"Fancy meeting you here." She said dryly as she sat down in a chair next to Sampson.

"How was your match?" She asked me.

"It was tough." I answered her.

"Speaking of which, I just wanted to say thanks for the thing you did. It saved us." I told her.

"No problem." Kat smiled.

"I also came here to apologize. I see that you're trying to help me out, and I wanted to talk to you about that..." I said kindly.

"Apology accepted. What was it you wanted?" She asked me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you helping me, and not your team?" I asked her.

"Well... because your family. I look after people like that and I just hoped we could at least be friends." She told me.

"I'd like that, Kat." I told her.

"But you need to tell me something first." I said, peering at her eyes.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"How'd you manage to get those things into the matches?" I questioned.

"Well... I just sneak my way in through the elevators when no one's guarding it. " Kat told me.

"Oh. Alright." I said as I turned around back towards the crowd.

"One other thing..." I said, turning back around to her.

"Yeah?" Kat looked up at me.

"How long have you been working for Dodson?"


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58: Little Birds**

** "**Wait—what are you talking about?" Kat shook her head. Sampson grunted lightly in his cot, opening one eye to look at me.

"Cut the shit and tell me what you're doing." I said firmly.

"Sarah—"

"If you don't tell me, I'll tell everyone here, and we'll see how they fare with that information." I threatened.

Kat sighed in her chair, looking wearily at Sampson.

"Dodson hired me to recon the contestants. He's afraid someone's trying to kill him. He's promised me access to rewards to help me and my team if I help him." She confessed.

"Well tell your boss you've got about 1,000 more to add to the list of people who want to kill him." I told her, crossing my arms.

"I understand you're new here, Sarah, but you don't know how things really are. Dodson's the one keeping this place together. He gives everyone a reason to fight for—and to die for. People see him as a father figure—tough love."

"'Tough love'? That's what you call this here?" I asked angrily.

"The people here fight because they have to, it's either that, or they sit around and die." Kat told me.

"I've already said too much. Please promise me you'll keep this a secret. I'll keep giving you my drops." She proposed.

"Fine, but this conversation's not over." I said, turning back into the rainbow sea.

Looking back at it, I might have seemed angrier than I was. Inside, I was still confused, sad, betrayed. What sort of person would claim blood to another? Someone who works for a cruel man, I answered for myself. It was at that moment when I remembered Marge's soldiers. These two groups were strikingly similar—cold, calculating, intelligent, maliciously clever. It's like they worked together, but despised each other at the same time.

How could two groups be so similar yet fight each other? So many questions, yet still so many left to be unanswered. I've gotten used to it, leaving my questions behind and just going with it. Where did Dodson get a bunch of Slotters? Fuck do I know? Shit like that just falls on my plate. All I know is that I have to kill them for some mundane reason, and then I eventually do that after 4 months of character development. I learned that these questions didn't need to be asked, and a few weeks later, every single one was gone. The only thing left was instinct and finesse.

As more weeks went by, Dodson's guards gave all the new rank ups-including me-some supplies. This included small amounts of food and an occasional stimpak. With the half empty water bottles and small scraps of radroach meat that I cook on the fire pit, I store them in my tent, under my pillow, so whenever I needed something to eat, I'd have it right there, under my head. I remember doing the same thing when I was younger, and the habit stuck with me since. It's a classic place and I always deem it safe, no matter where I was. I made beds my home for years. All it took was a matter of seconds and that bed was my home.

I couldn't really say that I've ever missed my old bed in Megaton, or my newer bed in Achielles. The only thing I've ever been attached to was my Pip-Boy. I used it for everything—keeping my belongings in check, making sure I knew where I was, I even used to make notes to myself. That was me: the girl with a Pip-Boy and some crap under her pillow, that's all I could amount to, that's all I was.

I fell asleep after that conversation with Kat, resting my blistering body on a sheet of cloth. It was easy to sleep after a match. I learned that it was the best feeling, just letting go of all feelings and just closing my eyes. What seems like a matter of seconds in my realm, I'll just wake up, snap back to reality.

This time I did, I woke snapped awake with a kick, making me jolt my body and look around. My eyes were closed for so long, I had forgotten how to open them. I blinked several times and then rubbed them. Finally they snapped on, and I faced Michelle.

"Get up, we're training today." Michelle said bitterly.

"Training? Training what?" I questioned.

"We're making you guys tough. Just get up, don't eat, just drink if you're thirsty." Michelle told me.

"Yeah. Yeah." I sighed as I tossed in my tent.

I brought myself up and out of the tent, looking around and trying to break out of the dizzy trance that my head was left in. I walked out in front of Amir' office where Michelle had everyone gathered shoulder-to-shoulder. Michelle stood in front of the line, waiting on me.

"Can we please hurry this up? I'm seeing stuff..." Javier moaned.

"It's my new sparkles. Am I not supposed to wear these now?" Sandy asked everyone.

"Ah goddamn, it's all in your hair." Cassidy complained as she tried to gather the sparkles out by pulling on her hair.

"Ow! Ow, stop!" Sandy whined as Cassidy pulled on her hair.

"I need to get them out, Sandy, these things are going to be in there forever!" Cassidy said to her, acting as if she alone had to get them out.

"Wait, so am I imagining that she has sparkles?" Javier asked.

"Cassidy, stop!" Sandy winced.

"No, idiot, she put them in there herself." Randy said back to Javier.

"How am I an idiot? I've been seeing shit lately!" Javier argued back.

"How? You've been off of Ruse for weeks now!" Randy argued.

"This shit doesn't go away!" Javier argued.

"Ow!" Sandy yelled.

"Because you're an idiot!" Randy yelled at Javier.

"My ass itch." Jethro announced.

"Everyone shut up!" Michelle ordered.

"Marston, fall in line." Michelle told me. I listened, and went up next to Jethro.

"Last night's match got me thinking. With Hoyt... injured... we're gonna have to do something about it. Marston's right, the only way we're going to get anywhere is to go and take it, and that's what we're gonna do. I'm going to train you, just like Hoyt and I have been training ourselves." Michelle explained.

"First on the list is getting you guys into shape. Let's start with a warm up—high knees. Follow me on this and spread yourselves out. Don't stop until I say so." She told us.

All at once, we attempted to follow Michelle's example. Javier instantly fell over, tripped over his own knee. He moaned and rolled over into Cassidy, who tripped on her ankle and spiraled backwards, trying to grab everything in sight. This included Sandy, who tried to move away from Cassidy, bumping into Jethro's knee; kneeing her in the face and making her fall over.

"It wasn't my fault!" Jethro yelled as he moved back, putting his arms up, slapping me in the face as I went down on my left leg. I fell over on Jethro's face, holding my leg in pain.

"Wait, so was that the 'go'?" Randy asked as he stood at the opposite end of the line, looking down at our moaning, rolling, pained bodies.

"Javier! What the hell was that?!" Cassidy yelled as she kicked Javier in the gut.

"I got scared..." He moaned.

"Of what?!" Cassidy yelled back.

"I don't know, I forgot already." He answered sadly.

"That's withdrawal. It's making 'em more buggier than a... bug." Jethro grunted as he felt his thigh.

"I'm in too much pain to compare two things!" He moaned afterwards.

"Really? Come on, let's go!" Michelle yelled.

"I think I taste blood!" Randy sobbed.

"I really wish montages existed in real life so I don't have to contemplate suicide right now!" Javier complained.

We recollected ourselves and spread out, going back and looking at Michelle, awaiting her orders.

"Let's go, follow me!" Michelle yelled, starting her high knees.

We kicked our legs I the air, panting as we followed Michelle's cardiac example. We were out of shape, it seemed. Jethro was the first to stop, then Javier, then me.

"The three of you, drop down and give me ten pushups!" Michelle ordered.

"Why?" Jethro panted.

"Because I said so!"

"I thought we were friends..." Javier grunted as he pulled himself up for his first push-up.

I started pushing myself up, looking down at my veined hands. My left arm felt dead, letting my right arm do the work. I struggled for the fourth push-up when Michelle bent down to me.

"Keep going, Marston, you're making a fool of yourself!" Michelle strained along with me.

I closed my eyes, pushing away from the ground and grinding my teeth. I bent down again, the blood rushing to my forehead. I pushed up once more and then fell over, breathing heavily.

Michelle looked down at me and shook her head in disgust. She grabbed my shoulder and brought me to my feet.

"You need some encouragement? Everyone get together and follow this example!" Michelle glared at me as she set back my sweaty face.

The next thing I knew a punch flew at my body, hitting my stomach and making me cough loudly. I looked up as a straight flew towards my forehead, sending me back into the stone wall.

"Oh crap, we're fighting?" Randy asked.

"Are we supposed to-"

"DON'T CALL ME NAMES ANYMORE!" Javier yelled as he tackled Randy from the side, bringing him down and punching him.

"Alright," Cassidy said to Sandy. "I guess we're fi-"

"Stop talking to me already!" Jethro yelled as he punched Cassidy across the face.

"Dick!" She yelled.

Sandy looked angrily at Jethro and spat fluttering dust into his face defiantly, making him yell and rub his eyes.

"What the hell? Did you eat the glitter?!" Jethro yelled as he rubbed his eyes.

"Yes. I. Did." Sandy yelled valiantly as she jumped on Jethro.

Michelle grabbed my head and sent an uppercut at my turned down nose. I pulled up my hands and slapped it away as I tried to catch my breath.

"Alright, doc" Cassidy said as she got up and looked at him. "looks like we're going to-"

Amir punched Cassidy in the face angrily, sending her back to Javier, who turned around and punched her in the nose. After he realized what his impulse did, he cupped his hands around his mouth and looked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, Cassidy! I thought you were going to have a conversation with me!" He apologized.

Randy grabbed him into a headlock after this sentence as pulled him back into the crowd of the fighting team.

I pushed Michelle off of me and pulled up my fists, looking at her through the loose strands of wet hair on my face. I threw a punch at her, and she weaved away, twirling around and hitting me with a backhand to my eyebrow, lowering my guard for her to give me a left jab in the ear.

"Come on Marston, you need to watch me!" Michelle encouraged me.

Michelle kicked me in my knee, making my arch my body to the right, preparing myself to receive another jab at the face. I was right as she launched another at me. I swatted it away and punched back. Unfortunately, Michelle was faster, and she caught my fist and held it out, exposing my stomach to a final punch that sent me onto the ground.

"Alright, that's enough practice for one-"

Michelle turned around to see Randy atop of Javier, choking him out, Jethro being blinded by glitter from Sandy, and Cassidy being swung around the group, being punched from Amir and anyone else she ran into.

"What the?!" Stop!" Michelle yelled at everyone, making them stop moving and look at her, frozen.

"Did I win?" Javier asked as Randy pressed his face onto the floor.

"I feel like I've been raped by sparkles!" Jethro gurgled on the floor.


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59: 2.0**

After vigorous training, Michelle let us go for the day, letting us continue our efforts tomorrow. We would have to work out every day. But at that time, I had some time to rest. My arm was raw, so I took the time to stretch at the fire. I gripped my hand and stretched out my fingers. My reactions were slow and my digits shook when I held them up in front of my face.

It was night and everyone was getting some sleep after their first day of exercise, so the Blue Team area was stolid except for the snores of sleeping teammates. It was just me, looking at the scar on my arm that has been stitched up all around, making a jagged circle around my arm. I noticed that this wasn't the only scar on my body, they were all over. Burns, stabs, shrapnel, even shards of bullets that couldn't be retrieved from my skin. Small streaks of lines were all over the dirty face that couldn't be cleaned. I looked horrible and I felt the same on the inside.

I looked at my arms, placing them in front of the fire so I could see them.

"You'll get used to having them." Michelle told me gently from behind.

"I already was." I told her.

"Can't sleep?" I asked.

"Doc's bringing Hoyt into surgery any second. He doesn't know if he's going to make it." She told me as she sat down next to her.

"I got to talk to him earlier. That's why we started to train you guys. He wants us to be better if he doesn't make it, wants to leave something behind." Michelle informed me.

"I understand. I told her.

"Listen…" Michelle started. "Hoyt and I've been around for a little while, and he's always been there for me. We tell each other everything—"

"He's going to be fine, Michelle." I told her.

"I'm pregnant."

"Whoa, wait, holy shit, what?"

"You can't tell anyone, not yet. Hoyt and I are the only people who know this so… please, don't tell anyone about what I said."

"Yeah, yeah—of course." I said quickly, placing my hand on her shoulder.

We paused for a moment, looking at the fire pit.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Yeah." Michelle said.

"Why did you tell me?"

"Because… you know what life is outside here, you're the only person here that knows how life is lived on the outside. In here… my baby makes me a target. These people have some honor, sure, but they won't let this team get any bigger. They'll kill me, Marston. And I want to know that you won't stoop down to their level, even if you're a spy." She told me.

"I'm here for the same reason you are, Michelle."

"Alright." She said to me.

"You wanna say something to Hoyt before he's put under?" Michelle asked me as she uncrossed her legs and got up.

"Of course." I said to her as Michelle got me up to my feet.

"Sorry if I hurt you back there during the sparring." Michelle smiled lightly.

"That wasn't my first altercation." I smiled back.

"Probably not the last, either." Michelle added as we walked to Amir's office.

Michelle grabbed the doorknob and opened the door slowly. I stood behind her, waiting patiently for her to bear with her reality. She sighed deeply and walked inside the dimly lit office, her eyes ignoring Amir and looking straight at Hoyt. His breathing was labored and his face was pale. Hoyt was lying on his back, his eyes up at the ceiling. They moved over to Michelle and I, making the ends of his lips curl up in an attempt to smile.

"Where have you been?" He asked her.

"I was talking to Sarah here about things." Michelle answered.

"What did you talk about?" He asked.

"Mainly… Dodson's getting us a new recruit." Michelle told him.

"That's it?" He said weakly.

"Yes, Hoyt. That's it." She told him.

"I can't leave Hoyt like this any longer, Michelle. I have to do the surgery before it's too late, dear." Amir told her.

"Alright." Michelle said as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Listen, you two, I need to talk to you before I go under." Hoyt said in almost a whisper.

Amir went over to Hoyt's bed and started to get the sedations ready by injecting syringes and getting Hoyt's UV prepped.

"You… can't… you can't trust the people here." He said hoarsely.

"Marston… keep Michelle safe. Let no one touch her. You hear me? I'm putting my trust into you because you're the most dispensable person here, got it?" Hoyt asked me.

"Okay, Hoyt." I told him.

"Good… good." Hoyt exhaled as he closed his eyes gently.

"I'm going to need to ask you to leave. I need to be by myself during the operation." Amir told us.

"Let's go." Michelle told me as we left the operation behind us.

"You should get some rest." I advised her.

"No. We're still not done yet." Michelle turned around to me, her face serious.

"I wasn't lying to him—not entirely. We still need to ask for a new recruit." Michelle told me.

"Can you come with me—please?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, of course." I told her.

We walked through the lessened crowds of people in the Steamworks towards Dodson's elevator. As soon as we began approaching it, we heard the yells of a team.

"Bullshit. You let us in there! We need medicine!" A man yelled.

"Mister Dodson says you got your ass kicked, so no medicine for you." The guard said.

"But we need it!" The man yelled back.

"Excuse us." Michelle told the person.

The man turned around, his eyes set on Michelle. In an instant, they snapped to me.

"_You._" He glared at me. It was Jinzu, his face sweated and weaker, yet still as angry as before.

"You did this to us! You! And that slut's boyfriend!" Jinzu yelled, pointing his finger at us.

"Great to see you too, but before you say anything else, you should be lucky you're even here to yell at us." I told him easily.

"You think you have pull over my actions because you can pull the trigger of a firearm? It takes skill and honor to wield a blade, two things lost from the Blue Team long ago!" Jinzu yelled.

"You should keep your voice down. There are people sleeping." Michelle glared at him, keeping with my calming tone.

"I'll teach you for your brutish tactics. We'll teach your entire team!" Jinzu yelled as he and his team lifted their fists up at us both.

Jinzu ran at me, showing that he still had the energy for a man nearing death. He ran into me, and I threw him off of me, landing him into the stone floor. Michelle threw a hook into a Yellow Team member, sending him into a guard that rifle butted him down, along with the other surrounding guards. The guards grabbed us, keeping us back from the fight with their weapons.

"Get off of me!" Michelle yelled through the hoots of awake team members, acting as wild as the fans in the stadiums during a match.

The yells soon stopped as the elevator doors opened to Dodson. He looked around, stopping the underground area dead with silence. He looked over at us, and signaled the guards to let go of us.

"Come inside, guys." Dodson told both teams.

The Yellow team ignored Michelle and I as we huddled in the elevator that went up to his office. The Yellow team stood right next to us, completely defused from the fight before. We were slightly sweaty and breathing heavily through their noses as Dodson stood still in front of us.

When the doors opened, Dodson lead us through his office and into a hallway. This was a new room, completely furnished and kept intact from the war. Only slight burns, stains, and rips were in the orange and red carpeted room. It matched Dodson's red and orange pinstriped suit and hat. The room was a formal dining room: candles, fake plants and a shoddy wooden dining table complete with chairs.

"Sit." Dodson instructed us.

Mister Dodson took a set at the end of the table whilst the Yellow Team took one side of the table, leaving Michelle and I to sit on the other end.

"Drink up." Dodson told us calmly with a smile as he pointed to the filled wine glasses in front of us.

"No." A man next to Dodson said.

"Why not? Afraid to upset mommy and daddy with a little drink?" Dodson asked him.

"Last time I checked they got jumped by a wild pack of rapedogs." Dodson raised an eyebrow "… But I'm sure they know better than me." Dodson added with sarcasm.

The Yellow Team member just glared back at Dodson, adamant on sitting still.

"Ah, I get it. Holy day, right? Is it kosher?" Dodson asked.

Dodson stared at the man for a moment and nodded his head "Alright, alright. You don't want to drink, you don't want to drink. It's alright by-"

In a fluid half-second action, Dodson lifted up his cane and slapped it in the back of the head of the man, slamming him into his wine glass and breaking it, sending glass into his screaming face. The man fell over, feeling his bloody and burgundy face with glass deep into his face.

"Salud!" Dodson smiled with an Italian accent, raising his glass to us.

We slowly picked up our glasses, and then drank from them at once.

"Good! Now let's talk business. What do you guys need?" Dodson asked us.

"A replacement." Michelle said.

"Supplies." Jinzu said along with Michelle.

"Ah… now I see…" Dodson smiled.

"I would love to help you out, I would, but after your public 'shitting-all-over-Mister-Dodson's-rules' show you guys pulled off downstairs, I'm going to have to take over." He explained to us.

"So after extensive thinking, I've come up with the best plan to handle this." He said, standing up, lifting his finger to us.

"I want to see you violently screw each other. Not literally, of course, figuratively—but, literally also." Dodson said to us.

"You guys are going to fight each other, Great Arena." Dodson said.

"But wait! There's a catch!" Dodson exclaimed to catch our wandering eyes.

"You all just drank a bunch of liquidated ginseng, horse tranquilizer, med-x… and warm milk. Just like mom used to make… before she got shot by one of you crazy animals."

We all looked at our wine glasses quickly, spitting everything in our mouths out.

"AHA! Gotcha!" Dodson laughed as he ran to Jinzu.

"Look—look at the camera!" Dodson laughed, pointing at the hidden cameras around the room.

"Man, I wish I could do this for a living! For some reason, I want a trucker cap." Dodson laughed.

Dodson then turned his head over to me and smiled as the camera's foresaw the event.

"Welcome to… Minus Five Senses." He told us.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Michelle yelled as she ran for the elevator.

"Not gonna get far!" Dodson called for her.

"Sarah, let's go!" Michelle called for me.

I got up from my chair slowly, my legs already becoming to weigh down on me. I went into the elevator and moved down it with her.

"We need to get back to Amir and fix this." Michelle exhaled as she leaned against the elevator wall.

"Get up, you can't fall asleep. Not here." I told her, starting to think that Michelle had the right idea.

The doors opened and Michelle and I threw us out of the elevator and into the crowd of teams. We were swarmed with colors, our vision becoming blurred as we attempted to squeeze ourselves through the constantly moving crowd of noises and killers. I gently moved people out of the way, parting ways for myself. Soon, I realized I lost Michelle in the crowd. I spun my head round, making myself stumble from the movement. I couldn't see well anymore, but I knew the walk. I was halfway there when I felt an arm touch my shoulder.

"Sarah, I need your help!" Kat exclaimed in the crowd.

"It's Sampson! He's having some kind of seizure!" She told me.

"Kat. I can't." I managed to slur.

"Didn't you hear me? He's dying, you have to help him!" Kat told me, her voice getting quieter as my eyes closed.

"Get away from me." I mumbled, moving her out of the way as my left leg became dead.

I pushed through the crowd, my arms shaking as I lifted them up. Soon my mind convinced me it was time to sleep, that a moving crowd was the best place for me to this. I convinced myself to give up, and close my eyes.


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60: Minus Five**

My ears rang with a buzzing sound, making me cover my ears slightly. I opened my eyes slowly. I was on the ground; Michelle was slumped over on her side on the other end of the room. Once again, my body persuaded me that everything was okay, but then my brain kicked in as an echoing sound filled my head.

"In Minus Five Senses, the players must fight while drugged to reach the antidote in the center of the room." Bob's voice explained.

"This is one of my favorites, Bob. High flying good times are coming right up!" Dave exclaimed.

"I hope you all enjoy the venue I have brought to you tonight. The combatants must trek through the rocky foundations and get the gold antidote that I have concocted myself. I' know… I'm a Renaissance Man." Dodson's voice echoed in my head from the speakers.

I grabbed my stomach in an attempt to keep down the vomit from rising up it. I got to my knees and crawled, half-blind to Michelle and shook her shoulder.

"Michelle… get up, we have to fight." I tried to tell her. She moaned in response.

"Please…please get up." I said weakly, falling over her, using her back as a pillow.

The elevator doors screeched open, opening my eyes slightly.

"… What's that noise?" Michelle mumbled.

"Get up…" I yawned.

Michelle rolled over slowly, making my head fall onto the floor. She got to her knees and lifted my limp body up to her level. We both used ourselves to get each other to our feet. Half-awake we stumbled out of the elevator, tripping and falling to our hands and knees. We picked ourselves back up and squinted hard to look ahead.

"I see something." Michelle told me.

"Antidote. Get it… now." I told her as we jogged towards it.

The gold bottle got closer to our vision, which combined, equaled to a mere ten meters distance. We were sure that it was the bottle, the cure for whatever concoction we drank. The feeling was horrid. I felt as if my body wanted me to fall over, but if I stayed away from running, my head would spin, and my bones would ache, making me loathe the ground, and hate standing up. No matter what I did, it hurt and made me want to fall over, and I could see it in Michelle's eyes and in her movements. Her arms wrapped loosely around my shoulder as mine did the same. If one of us fell, we would be out again. The only thing we could do was run; we wouldn't allow ourselves to bring each other down. You know, saying that makes it seem like that moment was more heart-felt. It wasn't. We still hated each other.

But then we fell down, not due to a lack of energy, but because we were taken down forcefully. We stumbled onto the ground, and I could feel my head swimming. Vision blurred, I looked up at our attacker: A drunken Jinzu with an equally as intoxicated Yellow Team member next to him charged into us slowly, knocking us all down to the ground. I closed my eyes for a moment and sucked air through my teeth, looking around at them. Jinzu's face was sweating and red, along with his new yellow shoulder guards. He sweated through his white shirt. He looked aged, more grizzled after he was put in here. He had a mustache and his hair began to overlap on his eyes, separated randomly at sweaty strands. He pulled out a knife quickly, offsetting his head and making hi dizzy for a moment. He looked like he was about to vomit. His teammate turned to Michelle, and unsheathed a sword at her. She blinked quickly as threw a slow left hook at him, spinning his whole torso from the shock, making his sword swing off to the side and into Jinzu torso.

"Oh, oh! This could be it! Death by sword!" Dodson said excitedly.

Jinzu looked down at the floor weakly and ripped the sword out from his shoulder plate, stretching it out as he prepared his knife.

"Awwww." Dodson said along with the crowd.

A slow crouched charge ran into Jinzu, taking them to the ground near me. Michelle turned her sweating red face to me.

"Go!" She grunted as she held down Jinzu.

I got to my knees and stumbled forward at the golden bottle as Jinzu's teammate grabbed Michelle's arms while she tried to pin herself on Jinzu. She grunted and tried to escape, but the two overpowered her, and Jinzu pushed himself away from her. I ran to the bottle, tripping from my head bobbing too much. I was on small stone stairs leading up to the pedestal of the antidote. I was too weak to climb it up on foot. I reached my hand up to it, thinking that I could grab it from the ground. I misjudged the distance as my hand grabbed the gentle wind going through the arena. I lifted myself on the pedestal, grabbing for it again. A hand fell onto my shoulder, along with its owner's body on my back. Jinzu fell on me trying to get the bottle. I looked to my side and pushed him away, grabbing the bottle and twisting it open. I drank the liquids quickly, minding it so I can save the rest for Michelle.

"Blue Team grabs victory at a close range!" Bob said as the crowd cheered.

I smiled and lifted up the bottle to the crowd as they cheered and whistled at me in my win.

"This fight isn't over…" Jinzu said weakly behind me as he held up his knife.

Rock splattered against the back of his head and his eyes rolled back, and he fell backwards to the ground, revealing Michelle on the floor, laying atop of an unconscious Yellow Team member.

"Now it is." She mumbled as she fell over on the body.  
I remembered rushing at her with the bottle in hand. My mind met nothing after this part, I couldn't recall what happened after this, I was gone. Mind you, I didn't disappear. That stuff doesn't happen normally.

"She's not coming to, guys, what do we do?" A voice asked.

"Shouldn't we, like, pee on her?" A voice asked.

Silence followed this.

"Uhm, uh, oh look! She's getting up!" The voice said to everyone else as I opened my eyes.

I was sitting on the ground next to the Blue Team's fire place with a bag in my hand.

"Why do I have this?" I asked as I lifted it up.

"Uh, we don't know." Cassidy told me as the team was behind her.

"Well that's nice." I said gently as I dropped it.

"What happened? Did you win?" Cassidy asked me.

"I… think so." I said as I scratched my head.

"Where's Michelle?" I asked them.

"She's in Doc's office. We didn't have enough beds for you." Cassidy told me.

"Thinking smart, just like Michelle!" Randy said to her.

"Shut up asshole." Cassidy told him, upset at some joke she was in on.

"Ooh! You'll be singing a different tune tonight, lady." Randy said as he walked away to his tent.

I looked around the encampment like it was a new world. Things looked different—brighter—better. Sandy came into the camp.

"Did you get our replacements?"

"_That's_ what I was getting?" Sandy asked blankly.

"Jesus Christ!" Randy shouted in the distance. Cassidy sighed and shook her head.

"It's alright. I'll get one." She told Sandy.

"No need." A voice said.

We turned to Dodson's soldiers staring us down.

"Dodson has received a replacement for your team." A soldier said through his mask.

"Just one?" Cassidy said as she walked up to face them.

"This one's all you need, unless you count that little rat thing with him." A soldier said, chuckling afterwards.

"Have fun!" They said as they dispersed into the crowd.

"Great, now who do we have?" Cassidy asked as she rubbed her forehead.

The crowd dispersed to our new replacement. The first thing I noticed was their boots. They were sparkling and red, almost metallic, yet still flexible. Then, I saw their matching bright red pants, tucked into their boots. The shirt matched the outfit, and it was so thin you could see how built this person was, they seemed elite. Then I looked at the person in charge of these fashions: A man with a shaved beard and blonde, styled hair that went off to the right. This face was protected by a circular glass helmet, going all the way around his head. On his shoulder sat a young girl in a completely matching outfit with glass helmet covering green eyes and blonde/brown hair. She jumped off his shoulder and ran up to us, saluting her little arm.

"Captain's on deck!" She said proudly in her small voice from the ground below us.

"Oh-ho we're screwed!" Randy called out with a smile and a clap.


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61: The Amazing Captain Cosmos!**

"Nice! They gave us a retard and a kid!" Randy exclaimed.

"Randy, let me handle this." Cassidy said.

"Shouldn't Michelle be doing that?" He said, obviously egging her on for some odd reason.

Cassidy turned away to face the child and her older partner, ignoring Randy's comment.

"What are you names, guys?" She asked them.

"How about noob one and noob two?" Randy called.

"Captain Cosmos and my fellow Moon Monkey are reporting for duty." The older male said to us.

"Ready to save the galaxy yet again!" The young girl said, running herself up to Captain Cosmos' shoulder.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but you're a prisoner here, you can't save anyone." Cassidy told him.

"And I'm pretty sure the real Captain Cosmos exploded 200 years ago." I added.

"A simple ruse, I tell you. My space crew will never perish, for there will always be someone needing help!" Captain Cosmos said valiantly.

"This guy's a buzzkill!" Randy complained.

"Go to bed already!" Cassidy yelled at him.

"Huh, what?" Jethro called out from his rest on his perch.

"Go back to bed, Jethro." Cassidy said tiredly.

"Oh, we have a gay guy now?" Jethro asked us.

"EVERYONE GO TO BED!" Cassidy yelled.

"Sorry, mom." Randy mumbled.

The camp was quiet for a second, and Cassidy composed herself with a sigh. Doc's office then burst open with Javier fondling with his clothing.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss? Oh, we have a gay guy now?" He asked with inquisition.

"God dammit!" Cassidy yelled.

"That's what I said!" Jethro called out to Javier.

"What's a gay?" Sandy asked.

"I kissed a man once." Randy said quietly.

"Everyone just calm down for a second." I told everyone.

"We have what we have, so let's just deal with it and go to bed." I told them.

"A-Are we just gonna ignore that gay comment Randy made?" Javier asked us.

"Where is my sleeping quarters?" Captain Cosmos asked as he pulled out a flat tablet that had a glowing aura around it.

"Why don't you check your space calculator?" Randy insulted with a hearty voice.

"Standard issue holo-powered data recorder. All high ranking officials have them." He said as he pressed buttons on it.

"Oh that's wonderful, I was totally listening to that sentence. You might have something in common with Cassidy." Randy said sarcastically.

"You can sleep in these empty tents here. You need us to feed your daughter?" Cassidy asked him.

"Why are we being so nice to this noob?" Randy asked.

"Because things have changed. We've got a kid now." Cassidy told us.

"I wanna name it Javier 2." Javier said quickly.

"This Moon Monkey is not my daughter, only an accomplice in my fight for glory and prestige in this world full of evil and corruption." Captain Cosmos said, clenching a fist as he looked up.

"Oh, you _totally_ had gay sex before!" Randy called out from the end of the camp.

"Take these. You can have them." I said to the tow as I gave them food and water.

"Not necessary, Earth Wench-"

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Your foods have been tainted with communistic acids and I cannot consume them." Captain Cosmos continued.

"Well take them anyway. She might need them." I said as I gave them to Captain Cosmos.

"I'll take this into account. Good night." Captain Cosmos said as he went into an abandoned tent.

"Good night, Captain in the Closet." Randy called out.

I yawned and started walking to my tent again when I spotted Amir by the fire. I didn't notice him the whole time. He was completely silent, staring at the fire. Then, I remembered the empty cot in the office. Skyler passed away. I sat next to him and patted his back.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Nobody even noticed." He said to me.

"Nobody even cared that she was gone." Amir said in almost a whisper.

He turned to me, his face quizzical.

"What's going to happen to me when I die? Are you guys just going to replace me like it's nothing?" He asked.

"Of course not, Amir. They probably just had so much going on-"

"She was my friend, Sarah. And no one cares that she died, and no one is going to care about me." He said tiredly.

"I'm not meant to be here. I don't have a chance against these people…"

"You don't have to win to get out of here, Amir. We just have to get rid of Dodson." I told him.

"Listen…" I said to him.

"In the Wasteland… death is everywhere. But we never forget about the ones we lose, even when so many are lost afterwards." I explained to him.

"What about your friends? Have you forgotten about them?" He asked me.

I paused for a moment.

"No. I'll find them someday. But right now, we have to remember the ones that are closest to us." I told him.

"Can you help me, Sarah? Can you help them remember her?" He asked me.

"Of course. But you need sleep." I told him as I got up.

"Okay." Amir said as he got up.

Tired and still a little hungover from drugs, I went to my tent, slowly creeping up on my bag and gently resting on it for the night. Things were starting to come together. I was beginning to understand the arena and my own teammates. We were getting better, we were changing ourselves. It was going to be a few short hours until I realized how wrong I was about this.

I woke up bitterly in the morning, my head swimming even more than before, and my head slowly pieced together what had happened. I got from the bed and when to Doc's office to check up on Michelle. I creaked open the door and looked inside.

"Morning." I said to Amir.

"How are they?" I asked him.

"I've been operating on Hoyt little by little, giving him time to take in some blood before I cut into him. It's getting close with him." Amir told me.

"What about Michelle?" I asked him.

"What about me?" She yawned

"How are you feeling?" I asked her.

"Like I've just been taken advantage of." She told me.

"That's not what I did in there." Amir said quickly.

"We _were_ taken advantage of. Dodson made us fight for our replacements." I told her.

"Did we win our replacements?" She asked me.

"They're sleeping in our tents now." I told her.

"Great. Nice work, Sarah." She told me.

"But if you think I'll go easy on you in training, you're wrong." She smiled at me, playfully slapping my back as we walked out.

I looked back at the office, and saw Amir inside. It was barely lighted, and he sat hunched forward in his chair.

"We need to talk." I told her.

"What about?" Michelle asked.

"Amir's really torn up about Skyler and we both think that we should have a service for her." I explained.

"Look, I know things are different outside, but we can't go off and halt our training to do this. Amir's just going to have to deal with it." Michelle told me.

"But he's really-"

"I'm sorry. We need to train now. Go tell everyone to get ready." She told me as she walked away.

I sighed out loud as I looked down at the floor. Michelle was the leader here; she was the only person who could convince everyone to go with not only the ceremony, but my plan to overthrow Dodson. She didn't trust me enough, I thought. And now Amir would continue to be the weakest link. Thinking of that sparked something in me, I had an idea. I walked over to the tents where Cassidy was eating her breakfast with Sandy.

"Do I need to take the shell off first?" Sandy asked Cassidy.

"It's a cracker, Sandy." Cassidy told her with a slow blink.

"Oh." She said as she put it in her mouth and crunched on it.

"Hey Cassidy." I started.

"What, Marston? We're eating." She said coldly.

"I just wanted to ask you if you want to help me out with the service for Skyler." I explained to her while Sandy looked up at me, her eyes empty of thought.

"Why?" Cassidy asked, shaking her head.

"Because she's dead, and it's tearing Amir up." I told her.

"This isn't the first time someone's died, noob, especially with Amir taking care of them." She said quietly.

"Alright. I just wanted to get an extra hand before I go get Michelle to help." I said as I walked away.

"Wait, you're going to ask Michelle? You don't have to do that… I can take care of this without her." Cassidy said quickly.

"Okay, great. Do me a favor and spread the word to everyone else after training." I told her.

"I can do that, yeah." Cassidy told me as she stood up with Sandy.

I smiled to myself. I haven't thought this way before about anything. I put Cassidy into a false state of power to help Amir get better, all while helping me. I felt smart, witty, energized in my passive victory. The Blue Team walked to Michelle as we began our routine; 30 jumping jacks, 30 pushups, 50 high knees. If you thought that workout seemed tough, that's because I exaggerated the numbers or you have no idea how to exercise. After we got our cardio out of the way, Michelle would be circling around the team, choosing a person, in order, to have a mock fist-fight. Today was my turn.

"Alright, Marston, hope you've been watching me closely." Michelle teased as she lifted my up to my feet. From the corner of my eye, I could see Cassidy whispering to the Blue Team as they sat down in a circle around Michelle and me.

"Your objective for today, counter my punches at least once, and… you know… don't suck." Michelle explained.

"Let me get my pencil." I said sarcastically as I held up my fists and adjusted my stance.

"Good stance, give yourself movement but stability as well, fists are at the right height to guard your head and body." She said, checking off her checklist of a good fighter.

"But that doesn't mean anything if you can't exploit your opponents." Michelle smiled as she hopped to the side and kicked me in the stomach.

I held my hands down low to block the blow and moved back in case she tried another attack. Michelle moved forward with her fists high, so I copied her. A quick fist came at me, slapping lightly against my arms. I moved back and lowered my hands to see Michelle. I threw a hook at her, but she was too quick and spun to her side, letting out a spinning back fist to my temple. I jolted back and jogged forward, attempting a grapple. Michelle let me grab on to her, but used my weight against me, flipping me over her back and having me land on the ground. The Blue Team 'oohed' at the attack as I looked up at Michelle, defeat in my eyes. Michelle held out her arm to lift me up and I grabbed it as she pulled me up. I held on tightly to her hand, using the force to pull myself upwards and onto Michelle, tackling her to the ground and grabbing onto her shirt.

"Ahhh, crafty thinking." Michelle smiled from the ground as I pinned her down.

Michelle grabbed my shoulders from the ground and rolled me over, holding me down on my back.

"I think that's enough for one day." Michelle sighed as she got up.

"You can lift yourself up, Sarah." Michelle smiled as she walked out of the circle.

The Blue Team scattered around claps and conversations as I got myself up, brushing off my new clothes, and catching my breath. I put my hair into a bun to get the sweaty strand away from my neck and face.  
"Alright. Who wants to teach the new noob here how to fight?" Michelle asked as she panted.

Captain Cosmos put his hand in front of his body and shook his head. "Not necessary land reproducer-"

"What?" Michelle asked.

"—My monkey servant and I do not fight with violence. We are peaceful in that aspect." Captain Cosmos nodded, bonking the girl with his glass helmet.

"Ow!" She whined.

"No fear." Captain Cosmos told the girl.

"No pain." The young servant rehearsed with a nod that brushed off the pain.

"Cute." Michelle declared morosely, "If you want to protect your daughter—"

"_Monkey servant._" Captain Cosmos corrected her.

"It's not a monkey." Michelle told him.

"It's got a tail, how do you explain that?"

"That's not a tail! It's held together by duct tape and glue!" Michelle yelled as she pointed to the paper tail.

"How many tails have you seen?" Sandy asked Michelle.

"That's a question I should be asking _him_, Sandy." Michelle said.

"C'mon guys, stop arguing!" Cassidy yelled.

"Typical white person!" Sandy scoffed at Michelle.

"You're white, too, Sandy." Michelle sighed.

"…racist." Sandy mumbled.

"Shut up, guys!" Cassidy ordered.

"Somebody say racist?" Jethro asked deep within the crowd.

"Your mother did." Randy chuckled.

"You know what happened to my momma, asshole! She was beat up by a gang of racists… and my father!" Jethro yelled, quickly saying the last few words.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Michelle yelled. The area grew quiet.

"Ow." Sandy said lowly as she held her ears.

"Just tell Muthafucka Whitie over here to lay off my mom." Jethro said.

"Don't say a word, Randy." Michelle warned him.

"But he's setting it up so well!" Randy held himself back.

"Really? Are you five? Because you just killed someone last month and I don't think that's what a five year old does." Michelle told him.

Sandy then sneezed loudly, interrupting the conversation. Everyone then looked at her as she wiped her nose.

"It's stuffy in here." She told us.

"How are we all not dead already?" Michelle mumbled in stress.

"Commander Crunch, start fighting Randy." Michelle told him.

"Captain Cosmos." He corrected her.

"Sure, that's a name." Michelle said as she sat down in the circle of teammates.

Randy and Captain Cosmos stood in the center of the ring while the Monkey stood there watching. Randy cracked his knuckles as Captain Cosmos looked at him. Randy then moved on to his neck and cracked it twice. Captain Cosmos squinted at something in the air and then decided it wasn't important enough to warrant his attention further. Randy then twisted his back, popping it on both sides as he spun his upper body in a semicircle. Captain Cosmos lifted up a tablet and started looking through it, then put it down when he was done checking it. Randy then lifted his fists, and looked into the Captain's glass bowl helmet. They stood there, silently, looking at each other—Randy in a combat stance while the Captain stood, looking at him. Captain Cosmos glared up and inhaled deeply, the circle of people tensing as he did so. The Captain lifted his chest up slightly, getting ready for his attack, but when we thought he would move, he only exhaled a quiet burp.

"God dammit, fight each other already!" Javier yelled.

"I'm waiting for him to throw the first punch!" Randy yelled back.

"Oh. I do not fight with violence. My monkey servant and I are a team, but we do not condone physical confrontation that can hurt someone permanently." Captain Cosmos explained.

"Great. So you're from space, _and_ you're a pacifist. Your home planet must be exciting." Randy said sarcastically as he lowered his fists.

"Ha-ha!" Captain Cosmos laughed.

"I was born in a space station orbiting this planet. My monkey servant and I landed here only a few short years ago… and as your alien tongue explained before your ideas of _pacifism_. It is a lie, but I do not blame you for it. Ignorance has been bred in these walls." The Captain talked down to us.

"No, that's mold." Sandy told him.

"My role is primarily stunning an enemy that I encounter, while my monkey incapacitates the enemy. This does not hurt them, as we have—_had_… special blasters in which to do such a thing." The Captain explained.

"The Captain is pure the Captain is not a monster!" Monkey squeaked.

"Quiet your banana-eating mouth hole, servant." The Captain ordered.

"Aye-aye!" Monkey saluted her tiny, little hand.

"Ah… now if you don't mind, I shall be retiring to the Captain's Quarters for much needed rest." The Captain said to us as he walked to his tent.

"Rest? You haven't even done anything!" Michelle yelled.

"I've done more for your planet than you know, space wench." The Captain said easily with his back faced to her, reveling in his fake victory.

"Great, some replacement they are." Michelle sighed.

"Let's do more exercises and then we'll be done for the day." Michelle told us.

"What about Corporal Whiteboy?" Jethro asked.

"He'll find out how much he needs this training eventually." Michelle said as she glared at the Captain as he sat in his tent with his PDA in hand.

"He's totally gay." Cassidy said.


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62: Affliction**

We finished our grueling exercises, the team panting and leaking sweat all over. Some of us sat down while others held their hips to catch a breath. As Michelle congratulated us on our hard work, the Blue Team camp started to smell. I breathed in the foul vapor, and in made my stomach turn.

"Oh God, what is that smell?" I asked, breathing heavily but trying not to breathe in the smell.

"Did someone just use the bathroom bucket?" Cassidy asked her face scrunched from smelling the horrid gas.

"_That's_ what it's used for?" Sandy asked her.

"I think it's coming from my office." Amir said as he jogged back to his office and closed the door.

Michelle looked at him with a worried expression as she ran after him. I saw this and caught up with them, closing the office door behind me.

"What's wrong?" Michelle asked Amir as she looked down at Hoyt as he panted heavily and dryly in his cot. He was sweating, his hair parted as it got wet. He had lost weight, a lot of it in the past month. Veins stuck out in his sickly gray neck as he breathed in heavily.

"I didn't want to worry you about this, with the Big Team Battle coming up." Amir told her as he ran to the medical cart for supplies.

"What? What's wrong?" Michelle asked him as she looked down at Hoyt.

The smell definitely came from here. My eyes burned and cried from breathing in this source, and I wanted to leave badly, let it air out this closed off room. The smell still spread, even in the cold air. I got nauseous and light headed from breathing it in. I know you can't smell this scent, but let me describe it to you. It's like having an animal throw shit at you until you realize you'd rather boil vomit in a frying pan and use it to combat the aforementioned animal in a battle of who can make the most horrid smelling shit taco of a smell for the reward of a trophy filled with dead mice with a history of gonorrhea. Now you get it?

"It's Dysentery." Amir told her. Michelle looked down at Hoyt as she brushed back his hair.

"I've been giving him fluids, but he can't chew. If he doesn't replace the foods he loses with his Diarrhea…" Amir trailed off as he cooled Hoyt down with a wet rag and water.

"We need to win that Big Team Battle—if we don't, we'll lose one of our veterans." Amir told her.

"What about a specialization match?" I asked them.

"We can't have another one so close to the last one. Dodson doesn't like it for some reason. If you want to convince him, be my guest, but our best bet is waiting for the BTB." Michelle told me.

Michelle breathed in painfully, looking down at Hoyt. She kissed him on the forehead and left the office, her facial expression changed away from being worried and sad as she met eyes with the resting Blue Team.

"Everyone get up!" Michelle yelled to them.

"For what?" Randy whined as he drank water.

"We're not done training. Get in groups of two and spar with each other until you need to stop." Michelle ordered them.

"Bullshit! I lost five pounds today!" Randy yelled.

"I have a rash I think… I can't find it, though." Jethro said in duress.

"I said get up and spar!" She yelled at them.

"What about Cosmos?" I asked her.

"We don't need him." She told me as she walked away, continuing her yelling at the team.

Already tired, we gathered together and fought each other with sore muscles and sweating brows. We worked for hours, with people passing out mid-fights to drink or sleep. They were quickly woken up by Michelle, with the punishment of running a lap around the Great Arena. This wasn't only a one-time event. This continued on for a week, with non-stop drilling and sparring. We worked until we were almost out of water and food. The days became colder. We began to bundle up our old clothing and wear them with the new. We cut shirts to make them into hats, making sweatpants into insulation for our feet. I have never felt a cold like this ever before, not back in The Capital Wasteland. The worst temperature change was a gentle breeze. This was different—worse. I could see my breath when I exhaled. Sleeping was harder, and coupled with the intense workouts made sleeping painful. That morning, the team decided to speak up.

"You know the drill, get to sparring. No breaks." Michelle ordered us.

"Michelle—"

"What?" She barked at me.

"We need to stop this drilling. It's too much." I told her.

"Yeah." The team agreed.

"Guys… my rash fell off. I-I don't know what to do." Jethro said worriedly.

"We're not stopping until the Big Team Battle at the end of the month. You can rest after." Michelle told her.

"We're almost out of food and water. We only light the campfire for a few hours now. I told her.

"You're all adults… or at least look like it." Michelle said as she glanced at Sandy.

"You should all know how to ration your supplies." Michelle lectured.

"We need to eat and drink after these training sessions. Maybe we-"

"You're not the only one who needs to eat, Sarah." Michelle growled at me.

"I have to make the hard decisions without Hoyt here, _me_! You want to know what it's like to make these choices? _You _fix the supply problem!" Michelle yelled as she stormed off into Amir's office.

"Great. Now what do we do?" Randy asked me.

"Let's… let's just gather up what we've got and see how we're going to split it up." I decided.

"Cut the fire, it's the middle of the day." I said as I checked my Pip-Boy.

I walked to my tent and lifted up my pillow as Javier kicked out the fire in the fire pit. I unearthed my food and water to myself and reached out my hand at it. But then I started thinking. I had two bottles of water and a daily nutrients bar available. I looked behind me to see no one looking in my tent. I quickly pulled out a bottle of water and covered the rest with my pillow.

"Here's what I've got." I said as I dropped the half-drunk water bottle into the small pile.

"God, that's all we have?" Cassidy asked as she looked at the small heap of supplies.

"Yeah." I told her, thinking nothing of the food I have stored away.

"So how are we going to do this?" Javier asked us.

"I want the chips!" Jethro yelled.

"I want that apple!" Randy yelled as he clawed for it.

"No it's mine, I deserve to have first picks on it!" Amir yelled.

"Is that a candy bar? I love candy!" Sandy yelled with joy as she went to the food.

"Wait, guys." Cassidy told the group.

The team didn't listen and continued to argue and push each other for the food.

"You made fun of my mom, you little white-ass bitch!" Jethro yelled at Randy as he put him in a headlock as he brought a potato crisp to his mouth slowly.

"Now I get to eat your chips!" Randy choked as he took the food closer to his mouth.

"Get off of each other!" Cassidy ordered as she pulled on Jethro, who acted as if a fly buzzed around him.

"CANDY!" Javier yelled as he pushed away Sandy and unwrapped the bar.

"Everyone get off of each other!" I yelled as I pushed the group away.

The team stopped and fell back on each other, the camp silent.

"She's strong..." Sandy mumbled on the floor.

"We need to do this right before we kill ourselves over this." I told them.

"Well who's going to pick first? And how much?" Cassidy asked.

And once again, I'm faced with yet another choice to make. Do I let the inexperienced new people like me have first choice on foods to help them get stronger, or give it to the higher ranked members so they can stay strong? The team looked at me as I watched the meager portions of food below me.

"The highest ranked goes first. Take a piece of food and half a bottle of water." I told them.

Randy smiled as he bent down to the food and picked up the potato crisps, brushing it past Jethro's face slowly. He pushed Randy away from his face as Cassidy took a protein bar and some juice. Sandy smiled at the pile as she picked up a candy bar and raised it upwards with a smile. Jethro then went down and took an apple, and threw it up in the air, caught it, and took a bite out of it. It left Javier, Amir and I to split up the last food: a bottle of water and a half-eaten Salisbury steak.

"Great. Thanks for screwing us, noob." Javier pouted.

"We still need to split this up for the Captain and his daughter." Amir told us.

"I don't want your alien poisons! And she's not my daughter, she's a monkey!" Captain Cosmos yelled from his tent.

"Alright… so who gets what?" Amir asked us.

"Javier, take the water. Amir, split up the steak with him when you re-cook it." I said in a heartbeat.

"What about you?" Amir asked.

"I'll be fine." I told him. I wasn't lying, technically.

"So when's the Big Team battle?" Javier asked as he drank some water.

"A few days." Amir told us.

"You think we have a chance?" I asked him.

"We always do. It's just going to be harder this time." He said as he looked back at his office.

"I'm going to see if Hoyt wants to eat." He told us.

"How'd the surgery go?" Javier asked.

"It's _going_ okay." Amir answered.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"I've been extracting skin cells from Hoyt's body to attach to his wound, but his Dysentery is making it hard to do since he's lost so much weight. I'm hoping eating will give him the cells to finish up the leg. It's becoming dangerous for me to do. I've been taking skin from all over his body and re-sewing it up again." Amir explained.

"Thanks, Doc. Now I don't want to eat so much anymore." Javier said uneasily as he walked away. Amir nodded and went into his office.

"Hey, Miss Marston!" Jethro called from atop his broken wall/perch.

"Yeah? What do you need?" I asked him.

"First off, thanks fer' lettin' those crisps slip away from me." Jethro said ungratefully.

"You called me over just to pout, Jethro?" I asked him.

"Ehh." Jethro thought for a moment.

I lost my patience. "Okay, goodby-"

"Wait! I remember!" Jethro called.

"Drugs!" He said with a snap of his fingers.

"Good work, Doctor. Where'd you get your degree?" I asked sarcastically.

"I've started on my new concoction of ingredients and I was hoping you'd be testing it out durin' the Big Team Battle." Jethro told me.

"I don't know. After that last batch, a clear head isn't so bad." I told him.

"And why can't you test these out yourself?" I added.

"I'm not gon' screw up this figure for some addiction I con…cocked…" Jethro said slowly, trying out a whole new word for him.

"Just wait till you read the list of stuff I shoved in here!" He said.

"Right. 'Cause that would make me want to experiment with drugs more." I told him.

"Alright. I had Amir help me out with this one… iscoct—tane… uh, 'a "combination of hydrocarbons'… also… uh, ethan…yall," He read off slowly. "Oh, and heroin."

"What was that last one?" I asked him.

"Chocolate." Jethro answered quickly.

"I don't think that's what you said." I told him, hands on my hips.

"Well I guess you don' want my drugs then!" Jethro snapped back.

"Not really. Half the people here are addicted to the stuff you make, so… I'm going to sleep." I said as I walked away.

"Wait! Wait, I was just hagglin'! I was hagglin' you!" Jethro called as I walked away to my tent, only to be stopped by Javier who jumped from nowhere.

"So I heard you were talking about drugs with Jeth earlier today." He told me,

"Word must travel fast when someone stands five feet from the source." I said sarcastically as I crossed my arms.

"Yeah, yeah. So, uh, did you get any of his drugs?" Javier asked me.

"Don't tell me you have a problem with the stuff." I said to him.

"I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM! I CAN STOP WHEVENER I WANT!" He barked.

"Thanks for not proving any stereotypes there. Since, you _don't_ have a problem I guess you can fight the Big Team Battle sober, then." I said as I gently nudged Javier to the side and walked past him.

"Wait… okay wait. Maybe I do actually have a likeness for it. I've just been so hot here… and itchy… and tired… and hungry… and dopey, and sleazy, and Snow White, an-"

"It's forty degrees, how are you hot here?" I asked him.

"It's just a state of mind when I'm sad, I guess. Look, I've already asked Randy and he says he uses his mix for meditation, and that's no good for me when I fight. Cassidy uses hers to be stern clear headed, which _isn't_ fun at all and I can't get a hold onto anyone else here for drugs except you, noob." Javier explained.

"What about Sandy?" I asked him.

"Her? Oh, she's always sober." He told me.

"Huh." I said, surprised as I looked over to her.

"So come on. You saw me fight with his stuff. I can actually do something for this team. I can actually fight. I won't be an okay fighter, I'll be a prodigy."

"I know I act all big and tough, but you may not know that I'm not always like that." Javier continued.

"Never would have guessed." I said barely covering up my lie.

Part of me wanted to tell him that he didn't need them, that I got through my biggest fears without any hallucinogen. Then again, I'm still split between two worlds that my mind has made up to protect itself from going insane, so maybe I'm not the best person to talk to about psychological problems.

"Alright. I'll give my drugs to you if you promise to not let it consume you." I told him.

"Nothing consumes me unless it's bigger than I am." He told me with a great nod.

"Let's hope not, buddy." I said as I patted his back and walked away.

And with that, another percentage of the Blue Team was taken over by a mixture of medicines and lies, all crafted by the two most unexpected players on the team. I felt smart, like I was doing good. After all, a sense of doing absolute right is a feeling like no other.


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63: New Friends, New Toys**

"WAKE UP!" A shrill voice blared in my ear.

"Get up before I drag you out here myself!" The voice yelled as a hand reached into my tent and tugged on the pillow I was sleeping on.

I snapped into my senses and realized this person was about to reveal my hidden stash of food. I snapped to attention and pushed the pillow down, moving out to my tent and exiting it quickly. The demanding voice came from Michelle, who was rounding up the team to wake up for the morning, if you could call 4:30 A.M. morning.

"Attention! Cappy's on deck!" Monkey squeaked as the Captain walked to Michelle.

"What is the meaning of this mutiny? I will not stand for this!" Captain Cosmos told her.

"Shut up and get sparring. We need everyone ready for the Big Team Battle. Every. Single. One of us!" Michelle shouted.

"We're starting with high knees and one grapple encounter with your partner." Michelle told us.

We all sighed and stretched, yawning and sniffling in our stress and anguish.

"Let's go!" Michelle yelled.

Captain Cosmos looked at his servant with an eyebrow raised. He then turned to the team who had already started doing their high knees reluctantly. The Captain then followed lazily, lightly bringing up his feet along with his extremely young servant, who just trotted her short legs up, a smile far from appearing on her face as she skipped up and down. Eventually Michelle called us to stop.

"And grapple!" She ordered.

We grabbed onto the person closest to us and they tried to remove themselves from the grab by slipping away, reversing the grab and creating space from each other. We've gotten good at this. When Randy grabbed for me, I slipped away and pushed him into Sandy, who had fallen asleep atop of Javier.

"And stop!" Michelle yelled.

We all panted heavily, wiping fresh sweat from ourselves as our heavy breathing became visible in the cold air. We looked over to Captain Cosmos, who had his servant in an armbar. Monkey tapped out, and the Captain removed himself from her.

"Captain wins, as he always should." Monkey said to us.

"Another victory to add to my list." The Captain nodded.

"Run a lap, Captain." Michelle told him.

"No need. I've defeated it easily." The Captain said as he glanced without an expression at his protégé.

"Run a lap. Or I'll give you a fight to add to your list." Michelle threatened.

"C'mon Michelle." Cassidy eased her.

"Ho-ho! Are you sure you have prepared your alien weaponry for Sector Alpha's superior training?" Captain Cosmos taunted.

"Good one, Captain!" Monkey agreed with a high-pitched chuckle.

"Quiet, monkey-servant." Captain Cosmos ordered as he stepped closer to Michelle, who followed in closer angrily to them both.

"Michelle, stop!" Cassidy yelled.

"You want a fight, spacedick? Let's fight, then." Michelle told him.

"A 'spacedick' sounds disgusting." Sandy said wearily.

"It probably is." Jethro told her.

"Monkey-servant, hold my space rings while I space slap this alien wench…" Captain Cosmos started.

"Space-style." He whispered to Michelle's face angrily.

"Oh shit." Randy gasped at the insult.

"That's it!" Cassidy yelled as she pushed Michelle off of him.

"You've been killing us this past month with drills and suicides! Look, I don't know if it's just Hoyt's state, but you can't take your feelings out on us! We're tired now and killing us isn't going to do anything. We're ready enough for the battle, even without Hoyt." Cassidy said to her.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. What'd she say?" Randy called from the crowd.

"Did anyone listen to her? I blanked out after she started to talk." Michelle asked the camp.

We turned around to see Amir walking towards us, helping to be the crutch of Hoyt, who had Dodson's cast on his leg.

"Who's this guy?" Javier asked.

"Hoyt…" Michelle stared at him, her mouth open.

He had changed dramatically in a month. Now that he was in the light, we could see everything different about him. His wavy blonde hair was shaved down, and we could see surgical staples implanted on his head. Hoyt had lost all of his muscle and fat, and was half the size he used to be. Scars and staples riddled his body, especially his torso, arms and face to compensate for his legs, which had been taking the skin cells, according to Amir. He had bags under his eyes, colored a sickly gray. You could see varicose veins and arteries popping out through his skin, especially in his thin arms and neck. He wore a white shirt with yellow stains all over, and sweatpants. From the looks of it, the crutch here worked up a sweat, and made him dizzy. All-in-all, he looked like ass.

"Water…" He whispered.

"You know what that's going to do to you." Amir told him.

"Please." He begged him.

Amir opened up a bottle of water and gave Hoyt a sip.

"More." He said to him dryly.

"We're almost out, Hoyt." Amir told him.

"_More_." He said angrily, forcing another gulp on the bottle.

"I thought you guys would be more happy to see me. You're all different." Hoyt said to us.

"What happened?" Cassidy asked him.

"I just had to compensate for his wounds, that's all. Once the staples heal he can almost go back to normal." Amir said.

"_Almost_?" I asked him.

"This is obviously going to have some permanent change on him, especially with the Dysentery." Amir told him.

"Michelle…" Hoyt called for her.

"You're… so… different." She said to him.

"Come here." Hoyt said weakly.

She hesitated.

"I said come here." Hoyt said more sternly.

Michelle walked over to him, and Hoyt whispered something to her ear. Michelle nodded, and walked towards us.

"We have three days until the Big Team Battle and we're going to do whatever we can to make sure we're ready. And that means making sure other teams won't be a problem." Michelle said in her normal, commanding voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"We're going to sabotage the other teams and steal their supplies. Tonight." She informed us.

"Are you crazy? If we're reported for being in another team's base, we'll be taken out!" Randy yelled.

"Stop being a pussy." Michelle told him.

"I'm not a pussy! I'm a dick! A big one!" Randy retorted quickly.

"Ha!" Jethro yelled from the crowd.

"All of you shut up. We need to get this done quickly, and silently." Michelle told us.

"Randy and Marston will be leading the strike teams on the yellow and green teams." She told us.

"Don't disappoint me." Michelle said as she looked at me.

"If you're seen, there's nothing we can do. Dodson will decide what to do with you after that happens." Michelle informed us.

"I'm coming with them." Hoyt said as he got up from his crutches.

"No you're not. You need bed rest and the poop bucket." Amir said as he patted him on the back.

"We have a poop bucket now?" Javier asked.

"Wow." Javier said with a smile.

"I'm lighter and I can get around fast, I just need to take off this cast." Hoyt said as he pawed at his cast.

We looked at Hoyt, and then at Michelle, as if our eyes asked her if she was going to intervene. She wasn't.

"Don't take that off, you need to heal and your metabolism is stunted. You're not done healing." Amir told him.

"Have you been giving him stimpaks?" I asked.

"Of course, but even those regular doses aren't going to do much." Amir said.

"We could get ourselves a super-stimpak. Would that work?" I asked him.

"That's just nonsense alien talk." Captain Cosmos told me.

"When'd we get a gay guy?" Hoyt asked tiredly us as he looked at the red-tights on the man.

"No, I'm serious. I saw one of these be used on someone. It saved someone from dying out on the spot. I just need to know how to make a super-stimpak." I said.

"If anyone knows it, it's the Yellow Team's doctors. I'll lead my strike team there and see if we can find anything." Randy told me.

"Aww, yeah! Team Blue's Balls!" Jethro yelled as he went to high-five his partner-in-crime.

"You should work on that team name." I told them.

"I think you should sit this one out, Jeth. Just in case they launch a counterattack on us. I'll take Lieutenant Queer and his cardboard rat along with Sandy to the Yellow Team's camp." Randy said.

"Who are you taking with you, noob?" Randy asked me.

I looked at the camp of people who looked at me anxiously. Jethro smiled at me and nodded while Javier's eyes bugged around. He then started to pace quickly to his tent, and then back. Hoyt still struggled with his cast as Michelle sighed, not wanting to be associated with him. Amir held onto Hoyt's crutches and shook his head at Hoyt.

"I'll go alone." I decided.

"Al…right then." We'll strike in an hour. Get meals in you all and make sure to stretch." Michelle told us.

The camp separated and went off to their individual areas to sulk and prepare for the night of looting. I went to my tent and lay down, looking up at the ceiling of my tent. I stretched out my right arm and wiggled my fingers freely. I've gotten used to not using that side of my body ever since I got hurt. Now that it's healed, I didn't even feel a need to use it. My right arm's been going to sleep from the lack of use, so sparring is the only time I actually had to use it. As I rested on my pillow I felt my stash of food under my head. I flipped over the pillow and looked at the daily meal. I packed the food into my pockets and got up, deciding to do something with myself. I walked across the middle of camp to the Captain's tent, where he was using his tablet computer.

"Do you want this food?" I asked him.

"I don't eat your alien food." He said.

"Leave, before I get my blaster." He told me.

"Fine. I tried." I said as I walked away and passed by Sandy.

"Here. I'm done with trying." I said angrily to her as I gave her the food and went to bed.

Sandy looked at the food and water as I walked away, and turned to Captain Cosmos who was reading to Monkey.

"And the vortex split in half, decimating the space colony of… South Detroit." Captain Cosmos read to her.

"Do you want my food?" Sandy asked him.

"I'm not eating your poison Earth food." The Captain said in an emotionless voice as he refused to make eye contact with Sandy.

"Well if it isn't for you, maybe she can have it." She said, crouching down to see Monkey.

"Alien food makes her sick. Especially your candy bars." The Captain told Sandy.

"If sugar makes her sick, then she might have a glucose allergy." Sandy said, looking at Monkey who stood to attention at the visitor.

"Should I escort her, Captain?" Monkey asked her master.

Captain Cosmos looked at Sandy, whether if he were shocked or wanted her to leave even more.

"Uh, no… no Monkey." The Captain said gently to her, the overly-heroic tone in his voice gone.

"How do you know that?" The Captain asked her.

"People here don't understand me because I think differently than everyone else, and that made me distant from everyone else. Eventually I had to reach out to someone and that friend was Cassidy. I just want you to know you're not alone here, not when I'm here." Sandy told him.

"This is a daily nutrient bar, it doesn't have any sugar in it, so it's safe for her. And make sure you give her small sips of the water, it might be irradiated so you don't want to give her too much. If it is, go see Amir, he's nice to people and he likes to help." She said to him as she placed the meal at next to them.

"So, uh, I'll see you tonight." Sandy said as she got up and walked away quickly.

"There you are! I thought you got ran over by the arena traffic!" Cassidy called to Sandy.

"No. I wouldn't let that happen a third time." Sandy smiled at her friend as they walked past my tent together.

I closed my eyes and rested for the hour, letting my mind slip away to a better world. Then, I felt a splitting headache. I couldn't move or make a sound to express how bad my head hurt. I opened my eyes to see nothing but blackness. I looked around, my body feeling like it were being transported.

I opened my eyes slowly, looking at two men who examined me. They wore lab coats, I recognized them both.

"What were you doing opening up patients from this sector?" The man asked the other.

"They were making sounds, so I went to see what was the matter." The other said.

"Well you let this one out, too in all the commotion. You're lucky she has an attention disorder or she would have been caught in the middle of the riot." The man said.

I looked to my left and sat Sandy sitting next to me, looking off at the white wall in the room, not paying attention to the two men, just daydreaming.

"Do you want to read these medical reports on these three people who were fighting today, Louis?" Dr. Fredrickson asked him.

"Tourette's syndrome, weak psyches coupled with personality disorders and Asperger's syndrome. How is it that all three magically found each other and fought?" Dr. Fredrickson asked him.

"Look, I only let one out because I felt like I had to do something. Then the two just ran out of no where. Maybe they tried to start a riot." Louis told him.

"Well we make sure that doesn't happen, then. Administer the dose to the two." Dr. Fredrickson said, looking off to my right to look at Lennie and Rilee, who looked weakly at the ground."

"N-no, no. I-I-I don't need any medicine. I'm okay, I'm okay!" Lennie told him.

"SHIT!" Rilee yelled on instinct.

"I don't feel sick, Doc. I can control it, I can control it, I can control it, I can…" Rilee told him weakly.

"This will help you too. I promise." Dr. Fredrickson smiled at them as he injected the needle into their veins.

"As for you, Louis, I think you need to see this." The doctor told him.

They looked at the charts together, and their eyes read through the paper.

"You say she has been getting along with Lawson? No wonder." Dr. Fredrickson said.

"I-I had no idea." Louis told him.

"You need to be careful, Louis. These types of people are persuasive, they believe their own lies. They don't act like psychopaths, but they are. It's people like those two that make up cults."

"I've tested Samuel over there…" Dr. Fredrickson continued. "He's a secondary. He feels slight emotions, but otherwise thinks he can take more stress than anything. It's similar with Rachel. She's distempered. That means sudden outbursts of rage, fits, and sometimes can develop cravings like pedophilia and kleptomania to satisfy her urges. Then comes to Sydney—"

"Hmm?" She asked him.

"It's nothing, Sydney." Dr. Fredrickson told her.

"Sydney's a primary, but she hasn't met this group yet. As you can see she doesn't respond to anything and can't understand conversations all that much. She just sits there all day." He told Louis.

"So why do we have psychopaths eating with each other?" Louis asked him.

"They were all almost progressed to normalcy until Sady came here. Now they're all in remission, all of them at the same time."

"My advice to you is go home early, we'll figure out what to do here."

"Alright, Dr. Fredrickson." Louis complied as he turned to the door and walked away, turning his head at me and smiling as the closed the door.

"And how are you doing today, you too?" Dr. Fredrickson asked us.

"Huh? I'm sorry…" Sandy apologized gently as she strained her eyes on the doctor.

"Have you been taking your medication, Sydney?" The doctor asked.

"I think so. The uh, the nice nurse has been giving it to me. The one…"

Sandy paused for a moment, and looked at the door, acting as if someone had opened it.

"…the uh, the red-haired lady." Sandy said to him in a soft voice.

"And how has your stay been here, Sady? The first few weeks treating you ok?" Dr. Fredrickson asked me as I blinked my eyes and woke up.

"It hasn't been that long. It's been more, er, less. I don't know how it works." I told him.

"There's usually about thirty days in a month. I'll see about getting you a calendar in your room. How's that sound?" Dr. Fredrickson smiled at me.

I knew fighting was useless, so I decided not to act crazy, as it was the best way I could cope with being in the asylum again.

"Okay." I nodded.

"Good." Dr. Fredrickson smiled as he looked over at Lennie and Rilee, who were passed out in their chairs.

"We should get those two sleepyheads back to their rooms for rest." He said.

"Wake them up for dessert. It's… it's chocolate cake night." Sandy told him.

"We'll see. I think these two don't need any more sugar." He told us.

"Sugar…" Sandy drifted.

"Sugar's not good for us." She said as she lay down on the yellow sofa.

"We can still have _some_, Sydney." Dr. Fredrickson said as he wrote down on a clipboard.

"What are you writing down?" I asked him.

"Just some notes. You're last name is Greenditch, right? Oh, wait, no, sorry, that's someone else. I figured it out." He told me.

"Alright, well if that's it, I think I'll go back to… doing something else." I said as I got up from the couch.

"Whoa, easy there, slugger." The Doctor said as he grabbed me as I walked past him.

"Hoo, you're big. Have you been working out?" Dr. Fredrickson chuckled.

"Or maybe we should just cut down on 'chocolate cake' night." I told him.

"Heh. I can see you've been adjusting to this place well." He told me.

"Anyway. You've got a visitor." The doctor told me.

"Well, let's go." I said as I signaled him to the door.

He led me out the door, and back into the walls of the patient's quarters. Sun blasted its rays through the window through the hallway, intensifying the white that blanketed the walls and floors in the asylum. Men and women in cages were on our right, sleeping, or looking at the two of us. Their faces were concerned, like they were seeing me being brought to my own funeral. Many backed away from their cage bars and went to sleep.

"What time is it? I'm tired." I told him.

"9:30 A.M., Sady. Guess you've been restless after that fight." Doctor Fredrickson said.

"I guess you can blame me for that, or…someone else. I don't know who's in charge of all this." I said, looking up at the fake world around me.

"No one's 'in charge', Sady. Everyone here has the access they deserve, and they know that being here is necessary for their survival in society."

"You get that off a brochure?" I asked him.

"I got that off of working here for 15 years."

"So who's this visitor?"

"You'll see. You'd be quite surprised." He told me.

We walked through a set of guarded doors into another small, white room with teal linings on the walls. This room had two orderlies standing sternly with their arms crossed. On the left side of the room was a window and an intercom, both in perfect condition, which was odd for me to see. I've been used to seeing cracked, scraped windows and a rusted intercom with dust settling around the buttons.

"Sit down, Sady." The doctor told me.

I took a seat at the window and looked through. I prepared myself mentally to see the person coming staring back at me. I breathed in and pressed the button on the intercom.

"Hey, Sady." Joe told me.

"Hi." I said to him.

"Sorry we couldn't get a room for you two, Sady hasn't made that much progress yet." Doctor Fredrickson told Joe.

"It's okay, as long as she's fine here." He told the doctor.

"So… you've gotten yourself a haircut." I pointed out, trying to be polite. This was the only thing nice I could say about Joe. He looked weak and young, a weird combination. He had black bags under his eyes and had lost some weight.

"Actually, no. I've started my treatment and I've been given chemotherapy and radiation treatment." He told me.

"_Radiation_? Why the hell did they give you that, the stuff could kill you!" I yelled into the intercom.

"Take it easy, Sady." The doctor told me as he put a hand on my shoulder.

I stood up from my chair. "You need to get that stuff off out of him! You need to find some Rad-Away before he gets poisoned!" I yelled.

The orderlies grabbed my shoulders and seated my slowly down into the chair. Joe back away from the window, horrified that my time here didn't change anything.

"He's not being given lethal doses of radiation. It's a treatment for his cancer, Sady." Dr. Fredrickson said calmly. I refused to listen, my survival instincts kicked in, and I tried to do the thing I knew how to do: survive in the wasteland.

"Joe, Joe! Take Rad-Away, and if you're going to get into contact with more radiation then take Rad-X, it helps you resist it. For God's sake, stay away from that stuff, you don't know what's going to be breeding in there!" I said quickly as I stood up from my chair.

"She hasn't made that much progress it seems, John. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to cut this meeting short. I can send you her medical status if you want." The doctor told Joe.

"Yeah that's fine." He told him as the orderlies restrained me.

"Haven't you learned anything? You taught me to stay away from that stuff!" I yelled as the two orderlies grabbed my shoulders and stomach, pulling me away from the intercom.

"There's Super Mutants and feral ghouls around those things, you count yourself lucky you're alive after being there!" I screamed as the orderlies threw me against a wall.

"Just tell him not to take the radiation anymore!" I yelled as they pulled out a needle.

"His skin will fall off after exposure!" I exclaimed as I was injected with the needle.

"Just help him… he's… he's an idiot." I said weakly.

"Just close your eyes, you're finally going to sleep." Dr. Fredrickson said as my eyes shut.

I acted crazy, I thought I was prepared but I was wrong. I hurled myself back into the wasteland before I could know what I was doing. My head hurt and I was caught between worlds, not knowing how to act in either one. I was doomed to be insane in both, because they refused to see. Or, because _I_ refused to see that I had a choice… what world would I choose to live in. The decision was creeping closer, and my status in both worlds was ticking down with every choice made.


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64: Neighbor**

I opened my eyes, realizing I was muttering thoughts of survival. I looked around, my eyes getting used to the darkness. I was looking at brown cloth, my tent. I crawled out of my tent, and squinted around as the Blue Team ran around.

"Sandy take the bags off your feet, they make too much noise." Randy told her.

"What?" She asked, confused by something.

"Take off the bags!" Randy yelled, pointing at her feet.

"Oh." She laughed.

"Monkey-servant!" Captain Cosmos called.

"Yes, Cappy?" Monkey asked as she saluted the tall man.

"Are you willing to accept our mission to infiltrate the alien base?" The Captain asked her.

"I accept with honor!" She saluted with a nod.

"Good." The Captain nodded as he brought her to his shoulder, where she sat in a battle-ready position.

"Marston!" Randy called for me.

"Yeah?" I asked, still groggy.

"Are you ready to go, or are you going to sleep again?" He asked sarcastically with a baby voice.

"My head just hurts." I told him.

"Then go steal some painkillers." Randy suggested.

"Or pee on 'em!" Javier yelled.

"That's why you're not on a strike team." Randy said to him.

"Well…screw you!" Javier yelled as he itched himself.

"Okay everyone! Get guarding!" Michelle yelled.

"You ready?" Randy asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"The Green Team's camp is in the thick of the Great Arena traffic. Take a left down the middle of the thick of it. Or just look for something green." Randy informed me.

"And please don't mess up today." He said as he signaled his team into the crowd of people.

I exhaled and went into the crowd of people traversing the Steamworks. People pushed me around and I pushed them back, making sure I was going straight. It was a giant moving mosh pit and I waded through it trying not to lose my footing and get trampled. I kept my eyes on the left and kept pushing my way through the crowd. I spotted something through the horde, a green shirt, standing perfectly still. I figured this was their base of operations. I got off the ride of pain and crouched to the side of a wall. I looked ahead. Their base was mostly like ours, except smaller. I was a semicircle of tents all facing a fire. I plotted out where I was to walk. The tents were spaced just enough for me to sneak behind all of them to steal the supplies. I held up my Pip-Boy and turned on the Stealth Boy module, camouflaging me with my surroundings. I crept slowly to the first tent, using the natural darkness of the Steamworks and the shadows behind the fires to hide me. I went up to the tent from behind and pulled it open slowly.

There were supplies for the taking, all nestled atop a rolled up blanket. I slowly took two ends of the blanket and tied them together, making a knapsack to put the supplies in. I bundled up all of the meals and water and closed up the back, holding it close to my body. I then looked at my Pip-Boy to see it rendering the new supplies. I waited for it to load and the bag of supplies camouflaged along with me, allowing me to carry it to the next place.

"How are the troops doing?" A raspy voice asked a Green Team member.

"Good to go. We've been doing specialization matches for better gear. We've got a pretty good chance against whoever we're versing." The other member said.

I began to move to the next tent, repeating my process for more food and drinks.

"What about our 'relationship'?" One asked.

"They've agreed for a nonviolent truce until the winter's over. Guess that team really pissed them off." One said.

"Yep. So what's for dinner?" One asked as I went to the next tent.

"Let me see." He said as he walked away from the fire pit and toward my direction.

The footsteps were directed at the tent I was at, so I quickly dropped whatever I was carrying in their appropriate places and tried to calm my breathing.

"So what do we got?" The further away Green soldier asked.

"Hold on…" He said for a moment.

"I didn't have baked beans in my tent before." He said to the other member. I realized my mistake, and now it was going to cost me.

"Maybe it was the food fairy!" The other said sarcastically.

"Or Meg is trying to flirt with me…." He responded. "I'm totally in." He laughed.

"You're an idiot." The other said.

"The only idiot here is The Prophet on that team; he's the one with the adult diapers." One said.

"Shut up, he can hear you!"

"No he can't! Don't believe that shit, he's just a guy with a belief, he's not magical!"

I had enough of their talking; I continued to move to the next tent, taking bandages and medical supplies from their tent. My heart stopped when someone ran toward me screaming.

"Look alive! We've got a problem!" A person yelled.

"What is it?" Another responded.

"Some team's been caught doing a stealing run!"

"Do we know what team?" He asked.

"No! It's an all-out war between everyone! We've got to defend this place!"

"Or we could just steal things ourselves." One suggested.

"I'll go look. The rest of you watch yourselves." One said.

I feared for the other strike squad, and what met their fate. On the other side of the Great Arena, everything was different, right from the start.

"You ready?" Randy asked me before we ventured out of the camp twenty minutes ago.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"The Green Team's camp is in the thick of the Great Arena traffic. Take a left down the middle of the thick of it. Or just look for something green." Randy informed me.

"And please don't mess up today." He said as he signaled his team into the crowd of people.

Captain Cosmos faced the crowd with a brow raised.

"Surely we can go around this?" The Captain asked.

"You'll get used to people pushing you around. I did." Sandy told him.

"We could get re-routed in a dense crowd such as this. Monkey-servant! Tactical options!" The Captain called on her.

"None I can bring up, Cappy!" Monkey told him.

"Blasted. What use are you?"

"Jesus, why did I bring you two?" Randy asked himself.

"It's okay. I'll help him through it." Sandy told Randy.

"If I have cover through this, I cannot be taken off guard." The Captain said as he walked into the crowd of people.

The team moved with the crowd. The Captain moved slowly, looking all around as people walked by him, some pushing, others running. His eyes darted around the group of people, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Sandy asked him.

"Yes. I'm always… uh, I'm always at 100% capability." The Captain told her, sweat forming on his hairline.

"Just cover my back and the hostiles won't sneak up on us." Captain Cosmos said quickly as he walked behind Randy.

Faces upon faces walked by him, blasting his senses with talking crowds, running people, screams, feet scraping against the floor. He breathed heavier and heavier until he started to choke on his own breath.

"I-I need… I need to abort this mission." The Captain said to Sandy.

He turned around to see no one behind him. Captain Cosmos stopped instantly and looked around for Sandy in the crowd until he spotted her blonde hair on the ground, feet passing over it as if it were nothing. It wasn't, not down there. People cared about nothing except themselves, but I'm sure you already figured that out.

The Captain rushed over to her, pushing people out of the way.

"Cappy, the warlord is in the other direction." Monkey told him.

"Not now!" He yelled as he pulled people away from her.

Sandy was face down on the ground, the people of the Steamworks trampling her as if it were nothing. He lifted her up and saw that she had a bloody nose. Her face was dazed as she looking into the eyes of the helmeted man. He grabbed her and looked around the crowds, as they seemingly ran right through him.

"Monkey-servant…we're's my incapacitation blaster?" He asked her weakly. "We need… to shoot our way out." The Captain gasped.

"It was taken away, Cappy." She responded.

The Captain coughed as he spun his head around the endless wave of people. Not even his helmet could bring him comfort as he began to panic more and more. He held tightly onto Sandy, who was confused in general. His gasps turned into short screams as the people brushed into him, making contact with him. He coughed, choked, gagged on people until a hand reached out for him and grabbed him harshly. Still gripped to Sandy, they both flew from the crowd and into a safe area, where Randy held onto him angrily.

"I leave you two alone for five seconds and this shit happens?" Randy asked him.

"The…the…" The Captain stammered as he caught a breath of relief.

"I fell." Sandy told Randy.

"Yeah, no shit." Randy said as he wiped the blood from her nose.

"Keep something on that. We don't need a trail of blood running all the way back to our base." He told her.

"Some Captain _you_ are." Randy said as he got off of Cosmos and walked away, leaving him breathing in his own sweat.

"Thank you." Sandy smiled at the Captain as she got up.

"We need to keep moving, Cappy." Monkey yelled from his shoulder.

"Okay." He breathed in heavily as he closed his eyes, getting up to his feet.

"You guys see the yellow flag up ahead?" Randy asked them.

"Uh…" The Captain stammered.

"Jesus, don't tell me he's colorblind, too." Randy whispered as he looked up to anyone that would hear him.

"Stay down." Randy whispered as he grabbed the dark wall on their left.

"We need to find the doctor." He whispered as he pointed to the Yellow Team's base where many of them stumbled around with bandages on and baskets near all of their tents.

"Shit, they got screwed over." Randy said as they looked over the wounded.

"Him. He's got to be the doctor." Randy pointed to the healthiest looking Yellow Team person there.

"I'll go get his medicine recipes, you two focus on looting." Randy directed as he crept along the shadows, hiding behind blasted apart rooms and tents to make his way to the doctor.

"Are you okay?" Sandy asked the Captain as the sweat continued to stay under his helmet.

"Yes. Quiet, or you'll blow the mission." Captain Cosmos said as he looked ahead and crept forward.

"Well… I thought we were becoming friends." Sandy said as she sneaked after him.

"Foolish to think so. Once I complete my business here I'm taking my ship back to my home station." Captain Cosmos said coldly as he gathered up supplies and gave it to Monkey, who struggled to carry the water bottle with both her tiny hands.

"I don't think that's what you're gonna do." She told him.

"Well that's my mission, and I've never failed one yet." He said as he threw more things to Monkey, who tried desperately to hold onto them.

"Captain?" She asked.

"Not now, monkey-servant." Captain Cosmos whispered.

Sandy looked over to the Captain. "I was just thinking that-"

"What are you planning, alien?" Captain Cosmos turned to face her for the first time in this conversation.

"Well, you're going through the same stuff I am and I feel-"

The silent conversation was interrupted with Monkey dropping the cans of food and bottles onto the cement floor, clattering all over the ground and waking the Yellow Team's base.

"Leave. Now." The Captain whispered quickly from the shadows.

"But-"

"Go." He said angrily as he gave her a push out of the area of the sound.

"You can't do anything right." Captain Cosmos said to Monkey.

"We'll get 'em next time, Cappy!" She saluted.

"YOU! What team are you from?" A yellow Team member threatened the Captain.

"Jinzu! What is the problem?" Another woman asked.

"We have a thief here. Looks like the Red Team." Jinzu said as he pointed at the man, darting at him with one eye, as the other was cover with a head bandage.

"What team are you from?" Jinzu asked him.

"Mercury, er, Venus." He answered.

"What?" Jinzu asked with confusing suspicion.

"Set phazers for stun!" Monkey yelled as she sprayed carbonated Nuka-Cola in his face.

The Captain took off into the crowd, moving quickly through as the Yellow Team sprinted after him. The cat and mouse game was played with both teams evading the massive transit of people around the arena.

The Captain dodged people left and right, turning to see the Yellow Team in hot pursuit, they were more nimble than he was, even with their wounds and illnesses. That was when the crowd closed in more on the Captain.

He breathed in heavily as he sprinted through the dense crowd, Monkey latched onto his shoulder and bucking up and down like she was taming a wild animal. He began to cough and doubt himself. Had he already passed the Blue Team base? How long had he been running like this for? He gagged on his own saliva as he choked on the lack of air the crowd of people took from him.

"Captain! Have they poisoned you? Have you been contaminated?" Monkey asked her master.

"I need to get out of here…" He said hoarsely.

He moved quickly past people and charged out of the group of transiting people and onto the ground where he could catch a breath. He held onto Monkey as he choked on the safe, welcoming ground. The footsteps of the Yellow Team followed him shortly after, and the panic arose more in him. He backed away, turning around to run when he realized he was trespassing in the White Team's base. The team stood up and walked angrily at their unwelcome visitor.

"You think you savage beasts could use this man to steal from the needy?" Jinzu asked the team.

"This man isn't a part of our team." A man in a blonde mohawk said.

"Let me handle this, Chase." A man said as he stood up from his chair.

"Leave us be, foreigners! You and your decoy are of no use to us! Exit before I set my skill points!" The burly man said.

"How do you assess the situation, Captain?" Monkey asked the Captain.

"Be quiet." He told her in a serious tone as he stood up.

"This means war, White Team! You think you can push us around because we appear weak? We're stronger than you know!" Jinzu yelled.

"You want a war, fine! I've got news for you, my war-planning skill is +75!" The leader yelled.

"We'll start this war with your "master thief'!" Jinzu yelled as he grabbed the Captain by the thin latex suit.

Jinzu sneered into the Captain's glass helmet. "Teach you to sneak up on—" A flying fist came from nowhere and slammed into Jinzu's face, throwing him into the hands of the White Team.

"Blue team's here now?" The Yellow Team leader asked as he turned his head to Randy, who looked angrily at the Captain.

The White Team leader pulled out a shiv and slammed it downwards into Jinzu, who rolled out of the way and sent a fist flying back at the leader. It was in that second that an violent altercation sparked, and both the Yellow Team and White Team were fighting it.

"Go and take everything we have?! What team are you from?!" The leader yelled as the Captain ran away with Randy.

"You really like to mess shit up, don't you? Now we've got a huge problem." Randy told him.

"Nothing the Captain can't hand-"

"Quiet, Monkey." The Captain interrupted as they ran back to the Blue Base.

"What happened?" Hoyt asked as the two came sprinting in.

"You've got blood on your knuckles, Randy." Sandy pointed.

"What the _hell_ did you do?!" Hoyt yelled, immediately regretting his decision as he held his stomach.

"Get me to the bathroom." He told Amir.

"Ew." Jethro announced.

"What happened?" Michelle asked them.

"I was spotted by the Yellow Team, but they could not figure out what team I was because of my red suit." The Captain told her.

"So they're just going to blame the Red Team, right?" Michelle asked.

"No. Genius over here ran straight into the White Team's base where I found him right in the middle of a war. They don't know what to believe, so they're going to be going after everyone." Randy told Michelle.

"Guys." I panted as I left the crowd.

"Shit's hitting the fan, what happened?" I asked them.

"I knew I shouldn't have brought a useless dumbass like you along with me!" Randy yelled at the Captain, pointing angrily at him as the Blue Team ganged up on him.

"Right from the start, you've been lazy and unproductive to this team! Not to mention you're batshit crazy!" Randy yelled at him.

A rummage from the tents surfaced around us as a man ran from the Captain's tent, carrying food with him as he disappeared into the crowd.

"You hid food, too?" Randy asked him.

"No, I don't even-"

The Captain didn't have a chance to finish his sentence.

"We all were here for the decision; the higher levels get the food while the lower ration it." Randy growled.

"You've been hoarding food from us!" Cassidy yelled at him.

"No shit, Cassidy." Jethro told her.

"Leave him alone!" Sandy yelled as she stood in front of Randy.

"He's just misunderstood. It's hard to live here." Sandy told him.

"No it's not. You eat, you sleep, you kill, and you continue to sleep and eat every day until you get killed or eaten yourself." Randy told her.

"He's a nice person and he's just getting a hard time because he's new, just face it. He knows how to live outside here this arena, he said so." Sandy told him.

"What the hell have you been saying to her to make her think that?" Randy yelled at him, moving Sandy out of the way.

"Listen to me and listen to me good, asshole!" Randy yelled as he pointed his finger into the Captain's chest making him move back.

"Stay away from my sister before you get killed, or more importantly, until _she_ gets killed!" Randy shouted.

"Captain…" Monkey whispered in a shaky voice.

"Just stop!" I yelled at Randy.

"It was _my_ food. I was hoarding it from you guys." I confessed.

"You made us binge eat for a week because of that choice, Marston. The higher levels go first, you decided it!" Randy yelled.

"Don't belittle me like _I'm_ the bad guy. Or did you all forget your faults?" I asked the entire camp.

"Javier's too scared and cocky, Cassidy wants to be leader, Michelle wants to be famous, and on top of all that, you all are addicted to the drugs that you make Jethro mix with our own medicine!" I shouted.

"You want to know why we're the worst team here? It's because you're all self-absorbed and too immature to realize you're actually failures! It's not because we haven't been training enough or because we need more supplies!"

"I took the food because if I didn't, you would have traded it for drugs or ate it all in one go!" I continued to yell.

"You might think us three are the most new ones here, but out there past those walls, you're nothing! You'd all end up dead in a week because you'd only care about what _you_ want, what _you_ think you deserve. The truth is you've been raised by the people here to either die in here or die out there! So don't ever yell at someone because they're spending too much time together, because _that's_ the only reason why you people are all still here!" I yelled.

The camp was silent for a moment, and they looked around, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

"Here." I said as I threw the rucksack of supplies down.

"This is going to be the _last_ thing I do to help you people, because _none of _you deserve it anymore, you ego-minded assholes!"

I looked around, my eyebrows about to slam down into the tops of my eyeballs. The Captain was speechless and his servant stared at me in fear, a face similar to Sandy's.

"Okay, I'm back. What'd I miss?" Hoyt asked as he crutched over to us.

"Uh..." Michelle mumbled.

"THAT WAS THE MAN WHO HIT ME!" A man yelled from behind us.

We turned to see a firing squad of Dodson's soldiers, aiming their guns down at Randy as a Yellow Team member pointed at him. The group of soldiers ran down to us, apprehending everyone with plasma rifles. A rifle barrel slammed into my head and forced me down into the ground.

"Get on the ground, or you won't get hurt!" The soldiers yelled into our ears.

"Michelle!" Hoyt yelled as he crutched over to her.

"I don't want a drug test! I don't want a drug test!" Javier yelled as he ran around and was tackled by the soldiers and slammed into the floor.

"Get off him!" Cassidy yelled as she kicked the soldier in the stomach, making him rifle butt her in the jaw. Cassidy then fell, and was scooped off from the ground and brought away.

A soldier pressed his rifle against Sandy's rib cage. "Randy!" Sandy yelled at her brother as he ran to his sister's aid. The soldier released his rifle from Sandy and Randy's head slammed into the butt of his rifle, clotheslining him against it as he fell into the ground. My face was pressed against the ground, watching everything happen above me horizontally as I was made not to move. The Captain raised his hands as Monkey left his shoulder, hiding behind his leg, looking up at the soldiers as they both backed away into the wall.

A soldier lifted up Randy by the neck and escorted him away while the others followed, getting off of everyone and walking away like it was nothing.

"Randy!" Sandy yelled after him.

"They took Cassidy!" Javier yelled.

"Hey! Where the hell are you taking them?!" Jethro yelled after them.

Michelle pushed the soldier off of her and brushed off her shoulders as he walked away with the rest into the crowd, the last one turning to us and motioning a gun in his hand, and pulling the trigger. He then waved as he disappeared into the frantic crowd of moving people.

We breathed heavily, looking at each other as he held our aching body parts. The question on our mind was similar, and quite obvious.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SHIT?!" Javier yelled in pain as he rolled on the ground.


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65: Enlightened**

"You see what happens when you guys screw things up?" Michelle asked us.

"Now's not the time for that, Michelle." I told her as I lifted up my palm to her as I held my cheek.

"Yeah, Michelle, shut up." Jethro told her.

"Where are they taking them?" Sandy asked us.

"He's going to see Dodson, no doubt. Maybe he's just going to straight out his story." I told her.

"I need the bathroom bucket…" Javier told us.

"Here." Amir told him as he gave him the bucket for Javier to dry heave into.

"This is what we get for taking in noobs like you." Hoyt taunted.

"Seriously, Hoyt. We've had enough." I told him.

"Yeah I didn't want to say this before, but now that my role here's more important, I'd like to say you two are assholes." Javier confessed to Michelle and Hoyt.

"Well who needs a crybaby like you on the team in the first place?!" Michelle yelled at him.

"I don't cry, I moved onto vomiting in fear!" He retorted.

"This is what I was talking about!" I yelled at them, quieting them for a moment.

"We need to keep our heads on straight and guard our supplies until the Big Team Battle. Then if we win, we can exchange our supplies for Randy and Cassidy. Sound ok?" I asked them.

"Well that's the best case scenario for us, then." Michelle sighed.

"The only problem is two solid players just got taken away. If we had doubts about winning before, they're worse now." Hoyt said weakly.

"I need the bathroom bucket." Michelle said to Javier quickly.

"Go to the bathroom later." Javier said as he held onto it.

Michelle ripped the bucket out of his hands and took it to her mouth to vomit inside of it.

"Are you okay?" Jethro asked her.

"I'm fine." She told him.

I made eye contact with Michelle, and we stared at each other for a moment, until she looked at Hoyt for a second and put on a smile.

"I'm just a little stressed." She told us.

"We can't go into the BTB like this…" Hoyt said as he looked at the ground.

"I think I can get us some help." I told everyone, lifting their heads to my idea.

"How?" Jethro asked.

"It's a longshot, but I'll try." I told them.

"In the meantime, let's just get some sleep. You guys can take the food and drink I took." I decided as I felt the creases in my forehead.

Amir and Hoyt went into the office to get more medicine and rest, while Michelle walked back into her house.

"Well… looks like he found the recipe." I said as I lifted up a note scrawled down on white cloth.

"Thank you, Sarah." Sandy said to me as she looked sadly down at the ground and walked to her tent slowly.

The Captain lifted up Monkey slowly, who was still scared of the exchange of yelling. He lifted her to his shoulder and nodded at me, muting out a sentence slowly as he walked away.

"You think you can make this soon, Jethro?" I asked him as I gave him the recipe.

"Seems like it." He said as he read it.

"I'll try to rush it for the BTB." He nodded.

"One more thing, Ms. Marston." Jethro told me as I walked away.

"I finished the drugs, if you still wanna try it out." He told me as he threw me a syringe of orange liquid.

"I'll test it out and tell how it works." I told him as I put it away in my pocket.

"Get the fire started, it's freezing. I'll be back soon." I told him as I rubbed my hands together and exhaled mist into my hands.

As I walked away, Captain Cosmos walked to his tent, his head down, shame obviously shown on his troubled face. He walked by Sandy, who looked up at him.

"I'm sorry." She told him.

"Uh…" The Captain didn't know how to react. This was the first serious social action that he performed, and it made him look like a fool.

"Apology…accepted." He stuttered.

"And again, thanks… for helping me in the crowd, someone pushed me." She said.

"How is she?" Sandy asked him as she looked over to Monkey.

"A monkey-servant is always trained in the arts of alien interaction, and is always prepared." He answered.

"Okay…" Sandy said as she sat down and looked at the ground. The Captain didn't know what this meant, and looked around for an answer.

"Randy might be mean sometimes, but he's still my brother and he says he always knows what's best for me. Now he and Cassidy are gone, and I don't know who I can talk to." She said.

"I'm alone." She said.

"Uh, I—" The Captain whispered to himself.

"I'm sorry." He mustered, repeating the beginning of the conversation, as this was the only thing he could go on.

"Can you promise me something?" Sandy asked, looking up at him.

"Can you promise that you'll get them back? No one else here seem to care that we're dying off, they're just fighters to them." Sandy said softly.

"I—I…" The Captain stuttered.

"I promise you." He finally announced.

"Thank you." Sandy said, getting up and looking at Monkey as she fought slumber. Her eyes looked hazily over and then she smiled slightly at the Captain.

The Captain jerked his neck back slightly, confused and scared of what happened. Sandy walked away as Monkey fell asleep on the Captain's shoulder, slipping off and landing on the Captain's arms as he held onto her.

"Pfft. You're so useless." He complained quietly at her as he walked to his tent, lifting her up as if she was a foreign object.

I walked back into the thinned crowd of people, as the soldiers must have taken care of the riot, leaving many captured. I looked around the Great Arena walls and spotted the Red Team's small base. I walked off and looked around.

"Kat? Are you here?" I asked as I lifted up a small tent covering the walls of their base.

My eyes lit up as I looked around the base. It was a small circular camp covered by a tarp with a small fire pit in the center, a reoccurring theme for all camps, but what surprised me was who their team was composed of.

The team was full of women, all young, skinny girls sitting around the fire and eating, while Sampson, the only male, towered over them and covered them even more in shadow. The girls looked up at me for a second, and Sampson glared at me, balling up his fists, which were sickly gray and veiny.

"It's okay, Sampson." Kat told him.

"Everyone. This is Sarah, a… friend of mine." She said, regretting her use of words.

"I need your help." I told her.

"After that riot Dodson's soldiers took two of my teammates and now we're unprepared for the Big Team Battle. I was wondering if you could do anything to help us out a bit." I explained to her.

"I'm… sorry, but I can't just help you, just like that." She told me as the girls whispered.

"Why? You did before."

"I did that because I thought that you were going to be nice, or even a help to us, but you're far from that, especially when I asked you for help."

"I was drugged, I was running away to get medical help when you stopped me."

"I don't care. I know you wouldn't have helped even if that weren't the case. You seem to only be in it for yourself, Sarah. If I'm going to help you, I'm going to need you to scratch my back on this." She told me.

"Fine. What do you need?" I asked her.

"Medical supplies for Sampson and a cut of your winnings… if you win, that is." Kat said.

"As long as you give us a hand, we can take care of the rest." I told her.

"Fine. And if you even think about taking the supplies for yourself like last time, you can forget me having anything to do with you. The only reason I'm helping you is because Sampson needs some kind of medicine to stop his seizures." Kat said to me coldly.

"Noted. Good luck." I said with a stale expression, closing the tent flap as I walked out of the camp.

I trekked back to our camp, ready for some much needed sleep. The fire was roaring, and I embraced it's warmth as I rubbed my covered hands together. I took in the warmth of the fire and leapt into bed, letting my head rest and reflect on my thoughts. A storm was coming, and there was preparation needing to be done.

I awoke the next morning with my bones raw and my lungs cold and dry. I looked around to see the team drilling push-ups and cardio exercises as Michelle and Hoyt pushed them.

"Come on, your stamina's shit!" Michelle yelled.

She looked at me for a moment. "So you're awake, huh?" She asked.

"Sorry, no one told me we were drilling." I told her.

"We tried to wake you up, I even dragged you across camp, but you wouldn't open up. I was wondering if Amir would take a look at you." Michelle told me sharply.

"I decided against it." Hoyt said.

"Good morning to you too, then." I nodded.

"You're not getting out of exercising, not so soon to the BTB." Michelle told me.

"Let's spar." She said as she raised her fists to me.

"C'mon, I'm tired today, Michelle-"

"No 'but's." Michelle snapped.

"I didn't say 'but'." I told her.

"Then you _are_ awake." She smiled slyly.

"Well you got me, let's go." I stretched my arms.

Hoyt sweat profusely as he lay down next to Amir, who gave him water. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Michelle, and also the bathroom bucket as his insides continued to remove themselves violently as the team watched around him.

Michelle started with a straight punch, and I blocked it with my forearms, keeping a safe distance from her. We studied each other until we threw a punch so we could counter and get the higher ground on the fight. I threw a punch at her stomach and she blocked it, moving back for a spinning back fist. I ducked her propelled arm and threw a straight at her stomach, making her wince downwards as she pushed me away from her. Michelle faked two punches which didn't connect and attacked with a knee which landed into my arms as they prepared to block her first two fake punches. Bone met bone, and a loud thump echoed in the camp. I only hoped it hurt her as much as it hurt me, but it wasn't likely. My arms shot to my sides as I reacted to the blow, and Michelle came back with a clinch. She held my head down and kneed my forehead as I grabbed onto her arms tightly. Another knee went flying up to my head and blasted against my face. I couldn't do a thing; I was caught in a hold as the team had to watch me take my beating. It angered me, I still don't know why of all times that this angered me, I haven't ever beaten Michelle in a fight before, and this was just a routine. But it was something about being made a fool in front of everyone, sitting back while someone else ruined me. It took something away from me, something no one would want to be stripped from me. My ego was meaningless, and my brain switched into a fury unlike anything I've ever felt.

Another knee went at me, and I instantly dropped my hands from Michelle and grabbed her knee harshly, lifting it up and flipping it over my head, cracking her leg and making her scream as she fell onto her side.

"WHAT THE HELL'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!" She yelled at me as she groped her leg.

Amir ran over to Michelle and went to see her knee. The team looked at me, whispering to them as I stared back, regretting what I've done.

"It's a sprain, a pretty bad one. Michelle needs bed rest to heal this." Amir told us.

"The BTB's tomorrow!" Javier yelled.

"What's gotten into you, Sarah?" Javier yelled.

"I'm sorry, I just. I didn't know-"

"Michelle!" Hoyt yelled as he lay down in his sweat.

"She's okay, Hoyt. Calm down and don't move." Amir told him.

"Ain't there anything you can do?" Jethro asked the Doctor.

"Not if you keep saying fake words. She just needs to let it heal naturally." He answered.

"Oh God, we're so screwed!" Javier yelled.

"You screwed us, Marston! I can't lift the team singlehandedly, I've tried!" He continued.

Michelle was carried away into her home as the team stared at her, then at me. I then walked away, not knowing how to deal with this situation.

"Go back to training." Hoyt told them.

"Push-ups for everyone. Fifty of them, military style." He barked.

The team groaned as we got into position and started lifting ourselves up from the ground until the counter in our heads reached fifty, and our arms dropped.

"Twenty more, then you can jog." Hoyt said angrily.

We gathered our courage and continued pushing upwards, the team mumbling angry thoughts at me until blood vessels in us were strained to the point of exhaustion. I panted heavily as I pushed hard for the last rep and rolled over to my side, aching in my arms as my body temperature grew warmer.

"On second thought, do ten more." Hoyt said as he looked down at me.

I rolled back over onto my stomach, breathing in heavily, and pushing up slowly. I exhaled hard and breathed in, doing another push up. I continued this until my arms shook around the final one and I grunted loudly as I dropped onto my stomach.

"Alright. Twenty laps around the Great Arena." Hoyt said as he sat down, patting his head with a wet cloth.

I got up, my arms numb as the rest of the team did the same.

"I hate you." Javier told me with a lowered brow as he walked past me to catch up to the rest of the team.

We jogged the arena, which at that point was a gift for me. I ran using the lack of feeling in my arms to an advantage, making me feel lighter and able to carry my body more. That time passed quickly, the huffs and puffs soon zoned out of my ears and I was able to find comfort in running. My muscles ached, but it was more of a healthy burning sensation, if that makes sense, and if it doesn't, sorry, I tried. I finished up the run with everyone else, and we all gathered around the supply bag to get water and maybe a snack or two. I was in the back of the dog pile, hearing the patient mumbles of the tired out team as they took bottles of water. As I approached them, the Blue Team glanced at me, and parted away from the bag for me.

"I guess you uh, deserve to take the stuff first." Javier told me.

I nodded as I breathed through my mouth and walked up to the bag and taking a bottle of water for myself.

"I'll wait." Javier told us quietly.

The higher ranks went first, and finally The Captain stood at the bag with Monkey on his shoulder. He then looked at us.

"I don't uh… eat your alien food." He told us as he walked away slowly.

We looked at the Captain as he walked away, we then went our separate ways, some resting in their tents, the others taking lunch and talking quietly to themselves, since that was what our camp was now; quiet. I felt lonelier than ever, like my purpose was barely still left inside me. I knew we weren't going to win the BTB, it would have to take a miracle to save us. I started to think inside my head how to get out of it; maybe I would hide during the battle and escape the Multiplayer Arena alone. I'd leave my friends to their fates, as if they were even still alive. It was getting harder to remember them, and it made me more inclined to just leave them there forever. I thought maybe I could find them and sneak them out, but no, Dodson had guards everywhere, and Joe and Lennie had no way to cloak themselves. As I played out these scenarios, the more I realized that getting them out was impossible. Every thought of mine either ended in failure, or being spotted. I choked out a decision.

I had to leave them there to die.

I sighed to myself, looking at the team from the fire pit as I got warm. Jethro was off from his perch, he hasn't been up there since Randy was taken away. I heard a fain conversation of him with Javier mixed in with a conversation between the Captain and Sandy. I looked down at the fire as Hoyt crutched up to me alone.

"I need to talk to you." He told me.

"Is there a problem?" I asked him.

"This disease is killing me." He complained.

"Yeah, literally." I said.

"And I know Jethro gave you some drugs the other day." He told me.

"What are you getting at?" I asked him blankly.

"Give me the chems. I need to cope with this." He said, almost in an order.

"What?" I asked quickly, my mouth dropped.

"Give me the chems, Marston." He said, holding out his hand, as if his cockiness guaranteed him the chems for his work.

"Are you stupid, Hoyt? You wanna get high when you have Dysentery?" I asked him angrily.

"Listen, I carry this team up, and if you want a slim glimmer of hope in me getting better, you'd give me the damn drugs, Marston." He threatened.

"You know what, Hoyt? Fuck you." I told him as I walked past him.

"You're really going to let this team die out because you want to take these for yourself?!"

"I'm not the selfish one here, Hoyt. Take a good look at yourself, because you don't seem all that pure." I told him.

"But seriously dude, don't look at yourself, you're disgusting now!" Jethro yelled.

"This argument doesn't need your attention, Hoyt. What matters is that you have a girlfriend who needs more help than she acts like." I told him.

"What do you mean?" He asked me angrily, Michelle's secret about to come out to the whole team.

"What I mean is you've cared about no one except yourself, and when you seem to act differently, it's because you have an ulterior motive. You, si_ngle-handedly, _have been bringing this team down from the beginning, not improving it. You've taught no one how to be a good-hearted human being, only an egotistical drug abuser like you!" I exclaimed.

"Oh shit, I love these speeches." Javier said as he sat down.

"Do you really think I wanted to live this way, like I made the choice? Being a good-hearted person doesn't get you far, Marston, no one in this team is smart enough to understand that! I know it's easy for you to say things that make you look like a nice person, but I'm over it. I _need_ this!"

"You had the choice for some things, Hoyt." I said to him as I took the syringe out of my pocket and threw it on the floor between us. Hoyt looked down at it, then up at me.

"Marston…" He growled. "There's a fine line between good and evil_. I am merely walking it_. If you think you shouldn't be doing that, then you have no business in the real world."

"You take that needle and you've proven to me that you're the weakest one here, not anyone else, not for what they do in battle, not for how they act or brush their hair or how good or bad people think they are. This is a defining moment, Hoyt." I said, pointing down at it angrily.

He glared at me, his eyes glancing at the needle on the floor in front of him. His eyes then went around to the team, who were standing in a circle. His eyebrows were still down, until he looked across the fire pit to Michelle, who was standing quietly, looking at the two of us. His eyes opened up, and he looked down at the syringe again.

His eyes grew angrier, and he glared down at the syringe, and jumped on it, falling down to the ground and injecting himself with Jethro's chems. He breathed in heavily, his eyes hazy and his mouth quivering. He finally looked up at us, and we stared back. His eyes went across the face of every team member as they looked down in pity at their "leader".

"You don't deserve to be the role model for this team." I told him as I shook my head in disgust, walking away to my tent.

His face saddened, but still seemed confused. The drugs were still in effect. He looked over at Michelle. She looked down at him across the fire as the wood burnt up into the air between them. Her face was disgusted and angered, and she turned around to her home and went inside.

Soon the team turned their backs on Hoyt, all leaving him there to trip out next to the fire alone, the team that he claims he built, all resented him as they realized the true curse of the Blue Team.

Nothing else happened that day, the whole team remained silent as Hoyt passed out on the ground. He was taken into Amir's office where he would spend the night. I soon fell asleep after a meal, trying hard to find warmth in my sleeping bag. I awoke early the next morning, whether because I was too cold or because I feared the Big Team Battle. Nevertheless, I awoke and got the fire pit started again. I sat down in front of it, warming my hand made gloves, letting the warmth of the fire hit the bare spots of skin in the tears of the cloth. I heard a door close behind me and I turned to see Amir walked outside his office to breathe.

"Morning." I told him.

"Good morning." He said to me.

"How's he doing?" I asked.

"He's been unconscious for hours. Whatever Jethro made… it's potent." He told me.

"Thank you for taking the initiative. We needed someone like you to set him straight, or at least try to." Amir told me.

"So what are your plans for today?" He asked.

"I've just got one thing to take care of, then it's all about preparation." I said to him.

"And what's that?" He asked me.

"Do me a favor and gather up the team." I asked.

"Alright." Amir said as he walked away.


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66: In Pace**

"Uh…" Amir said to the team as he looked down at the fire pit. Their faces were confused as they held drinks in their hands, but calmed to a neutral state when they heard Amir speak.

"I brought you here, today, so I can remind you about someone we lost." He told us as the team remained silent.

"And this wasn't the first one, either…"

He paused for a moment after this.

"We've lost a lot of people here... and we're going to lose more, you all know that. But what makes us human is that we feel for the losses of every single person who is no longer with us, whether we think they're spies, noobs, or just mean." He continued.

"We're not just savage barbarians, we're people, we can't lose sight of that, not even when many are struck down in front of us. We all feel for these people, it's our weakness… I know." He said, ending his word in a whisper as he looked over to Hoyt for a second.

"But every weakness paves the way for strength. We can grow, we can be sad, or angry, or just psychotic all the time." Amir said, shaking his head as he looked at the fire.

"Or we can change. Become the people we wanted to be. We use these losses as a way to continue, to prosper, to learn to be better people…" He nodded.

"So this is for Shane, for Skyler..." He paused again.

"And for everyone else who sacrificed themselves to help shape who we are… human beings." He said as he lifted his drink over the fire.

We did the same, looking down where he looked as our arms went up over the fire, and silently came down with Amir's arm. The team sat down over the fire and ate and drank and told each other stories. Michelle sat down and drank some Nuka Cola next to me, watching everyone tell stories.

"So does this cut into our sparring time?" I asked her.

"I think we can spare the time." She told me.

Across the fire, the Captain sat down, and Sandy sat next to him, looking at Jethro get up to explain something.

"No, no, you don't understand. She was the one who put that in your shoes, Amir, she only blamed it on Shane because he didn't have any more of the stuff." Jethro said with a smile.

"Why are you starting the conversation like this?" Amir asked.

"Yeah! She took that shit with her, that's what made her proud!" Jethro laughed.

"What?" Amir asked him.

Sandy sat quietly next to Monkey and the Captain, and took a sip of water.

"It seems you're not the only person who cares about others." The Captain said to Sandy.

She turned her face to him, and smiled as she rested her head on the shoulder opposite of Monkey.

"Maybe you're right." She said quietly.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked her sincerely.

"Yeah." Sandy said.

"Can you drink this liquid for me, I don't drink this poison." He said to her as he gave her the opened bottle of water.

"Maybe later." Sandy exhaled, perhaps feeling that there was poison inside of that bottle.

We soon finished up our meals and got up, with smiles and full bellies. I walked past Amir, and smiled at him.

"Thanks for putting this together." He told me.

"No problem." I told him.

"And I suppose it's fair that I repay you for this."

"Oh? What have you got in mind?" I asked.

"Well, speaking of minds, I do think it's time for some tests. I can spare it, and I'm sure you'd appreciate it to know everything's okay with you." Amir told me.

"Yeah. Sounds good." I told him.

"There's just one little problem..." He said to me.

"What problem are we talking about here?" I turned to him, my hands on my waist.

"In order to do a full scan of your brain's activity, I'll need you to shave your head so the hair doesn't interfere with the scan process." He explained as we walked to his office.

"Oh…" I said as I felt my hair.

"It's totally up to you, I'm not going to force it or any-"

"Let's do it." I interrupted him.

"Oh. Okay." Amir said, slightly surprised.

"Now, let me warn you, this scan isn't 100 percent accurate, but it will tell me if there's a large problem, anything less will slip under its radar until you get your hands on a machine more powerful than what Dodson's provided for us." He explained.

"Why did Dodson give us a scanner for this?" I asked him.

"I don't know, but we have it, and that's all that matters." Amir said as he fetched the set of needles.

"Another warning, the only reason I'm giving you this test is because of your last one. It showed that you have a concussion, but also something else. I don't know what, though. Let's find out." Amir told me as he lifted up a razor.

I sat in a cot, watching Hoyt sleep and mumble at the same time. Amir held the electric razor to my head and began tearing out the roots of hair on me.

"I removed his surgical staples today and gave him the Super-Stimpak Jethro made." He told me as he took out the hairs.

"They all scarred, I don't think he's ever going to look the same again." Amir added.

"You can say that again." I told him.

"I like to think that people are made to make those choices in life, like they're needed to be an example for others, good or bad." He said.

"Yeah…" I said as I looked down and thought about his words.

"All done." He said as he scooped all the hair into a bag.

I felt my head, my hand being pricked by the freshly cut hair. I felt much colder in the air now, my ears being exposed to the frosty air.

"Man, how do people walk around like this?" I asked, feeling my cold ears.

"You'll get used to it." He said as he got out tape and needles hooked up to a small meter in his hand.

"Ready?" He asked as he laid me down.

"Yep."

He put the tape around my temples with wires underneath it, and then injected my spinal cord with the needle.

"Alright…" He exhaled.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Just—"

The door opened, and Michelle walked in, looking at Hoyt.

"Oh, Michelle! Good morning, I haven't gotten a chance to speak to you, yet!" Amir exclaimed.

"Yeah, morning. Is he okay?" She asked him.

"Yes, he's just knocked out for a little bit. It'll all clear up, especially with the constant purges his body's getting now." Amir explained.

"Ew." I said.

"What's going on here?" Michelle asked us.

"Just giving Sarah a concussion test to see if everything's okay. She's been getting hurt there a lot." Amir explained.

"Nice haircut." Michelle told me.

"Yeah… thanks." I said as I faced the wall.

"How's your leg?" I asked.

"Doing better. Just don't expect me to be running during the BTB." She said.

"I'm sorry about that, I wasn't thinking." I apologized.

"It's fine. I just hope you're the one doing the running during the fight." Michelle told me.

"Okay…" I said weakly, thinking about my decision of abandoning the BTB.

"Alright. All done." Amir said as he took the needle out of me.

"So how am I?" I asked.

"I'm afraid you won't know until it's done analyzing the spinal fluids. Just keep you head protected until we know for sure." Amir told me.

"Seems easy en—"

The horns in the Steamworks blared, overshadowing every conversation being had in the arena. We stopped and looked up as the televisions all around turned on.

"It's that time again, folks! The semi-monthly, or whenever I feel like it Big Team Battle!" Dodson's voiced echoed through the walls.

"Last month you saw the Purple Team battle the White Team with the White Team landing a crushing victory over the few members of the Purple Team!" Dave explained.

"Now it's time to roll the dice to see who will be fighting this month's match!" Bob exclaimed.

"I choose Blue Team." Dodson said quickly.

"Er—uh… okay. It's the Blue Team! The Blue Team versus—"

"Black Team, I choose Black Team." Dodson said quickly.

"Wow, okay. Guess it looks like the Blue Team is fighting the Black team today!" Bob cheered.

"Black Team?" I asked them.

"I haven't heard of them." I told them.

"Get ready, boys and girls, kings and queens… uh, queengs!" Mister Dodson started.

"Those are transvestite queens, just so you know. Get ready, 'cause we're about to have a BIG TEAM BATTLE!" He shouted.

"No Ghouls allowed. I'm kidding!" He yelled.

In an instant, the team got up, yelling and speaking quickly as they moved around outside the office walls. Michelle looked down at Hoyt, and walked outside after with Amir and me.

"I really hope your friend pulled through." Michelle told me as we walked towards her house.

"Yeah, yeah I know." I said to her as we pulled over the cloth flap into her house.

"You got any armor?" She asked me.

"No, just what I've got on me." I told her.

"Well take mine." She said as she tossed me a blue painted Kevlar vest with tactical pouches at me. I caught it, despite its bulkiness.

"I need you to take care of the heavy fire, you're I better shape than I am." She told me as she hooked a gas mask to her black cargo pants.

"Why do you have that?" I asked her.

"It's just a reward from my last match. It doesn't even have any air filters on it." She told me.

"I've also got these bracers." She said as she lifted up two blue-splotched arm gauntlets.

"We're wasting too much time here, let's get with the rest of the team." Michelle told me.

We walked outside to see the team waiting around the campfire. Amir helped around Hoyt, as he woke himself up.

"So what's the plan?" Javier asked us.

"What's with your hair?" I asked him as I looked up at his orange painted hair.

"What's with yours?" He retorted.

"Fair enough."

I looked at the rest of the team as they looked up at us, expecting to hear something. Sandy had sparkles lined throughout her hair and face, while Jethro was shirtless, except for a belt wrapped around his torso. He had blue face paint on and black gloves.

"Your plan is like the others. Don't be stupid." Hoyt said.

Some team members glanced at him for a moment, but otherwise ignored him completely.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Hoyt called for them.

"Dude, shut up." Javier told him.

"Listen everybody." Michelle told the team, and diverting their attention to her and I.

"The Black Team is something mean, not like the White Team, who's completely hidden from the rest of us." Michelle explained.

"Is this a racial joke?" Jethro asked.

"They train those people hard, so be careful, and choose a battle buddy to protect if you're not feeling like a lone wolf." Michelle told us.

"We've prepared long for this. We can still win." Michelle told us.

We turned from the fire pit, and walked to the Great Arena.

"Hey! I've got something to say." Hoyt told us as we walked by him.

"Hey!" Hoyt yelled as we ignored him again, leaving him by himself in the Blue Team Camp.

We made it to the elevator, where the soldiers checked us for weapons and let us into the elevator, where we stood there, waiting. I breathed in deep, and looked around to see everyone's faces.

No one combed their hair, no one held up a mirror. They were scared, with vanity being the last thing on their minds. We waited patiently until the elevator stopped, no one said a word, and as I thought more and more, there wasn't a thing to say.


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67: Captain of the Industry**

The television in the elevator turned on, and we all looked at it, waiting for the doors to open.

"Hello everybody, Happy Holidays and welcome to the Big Team Battle! To kick off the new year, we've pitted the Blue Team against the Black team to see if the Blue Team's curse of defeat was really lifted, or if the team will wither away in defeat!" Dave informed the crowd.

"Yep, folks, you're going to love this!" Bob added.

"That's…kind of what I said. Just now." Dave told his co-informant.

"I'm sorry, what do you want me to say? 'Hi I'm Bob and I know a guy with a two inch d—'"

"Okay, kids! We're family friendly here and we've had enough bickering, so let's just have people fight!" Dodson told us.

"Right. The Blue Team's been diminished to a shadow of its former… unglory. With many teammates disqualified for cheating, and only _six_ people remaining, the Blue Team's going to have to pull their wits and brawn together to beat the nine players on the Black Team!" Dave smiled.

"That's right, we have the Black Team today, with hot newbies like Prophet and—"

"Let's get the games begin, then, shall we?!" Dave interrupted his co-host.

"Oh. Rude." Bob said as the elevator opened.

I looked down as the team ran out the elevator doors, the higher leveled players first to grab the weapons, with the noobs waiting. I sighed to myself, and looked up at the lights, where the audience cheered and whistled loudly, shaking the foundations of the arena with pure excitement. I held up my Pip-Boy, and grabbed onto my Stealth Boy module, getting ready to find a place to hide until everyone died.

"WHOA!" Javier yelled.

I looked up to see Captain Cosmos open a box with a tag. He loaded up the weapons with glowing blue cells, and handed a small weapon to Monkey, who sat upon his shoulder. He turned around, and faced me with an energy gun unlike anything I've ever seen. It was a large gray weapon, thick around the barrel, if you could call it one. Down the side was printed in black 'Mesmetron'. Monkey's weapon was much smaller, around the size of my palm. It was gray, with the single energy cell visible on the weapon.

"CAPPY'S ON DECK!" Monkey yelled with a nod.

"Calm—calm down." The Captain mumbled, embarrassed by her.

"Why does everyone get a mystery box but me? What's the matter with me?" Javier asked.

"Racism." Jethro said.

"Jethro, shut up, it's not 2013 anymore." Michelle told him.

"You're right." Jethro nodded as he looked at the arena camera.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do." Michelle told us.

"Me and Marston will go up that hill to the left, while you guys go further out to—"

The Captain walked away, going out towards the middle of the field, disappearing in the wind.

This is the first time I noticed the weather. I looked up to see the giant circle of the arena cut out to let in sunlight. This also let in the cold weather that sprinkled white ice down to us.

The arena was a blizzard, and I was only here for thirty seconds and I was begging to leave.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Michelle called for the Captain and his servant in the blizzard.

"Whatever. We don't need him." Michelle said.

Sandy looked out into the blizzard, holding a machine pistol in hand. Her face was sad and confused much like her face in the asylum. She turned towards the blizzard that tore apart the arena and ran into it.

"Sandy!" Javier called.

"What do we do now?" I asked her.

"We go in and fight. The rest of you, with us, up the hill." Michelle told us.

Sandy and the Captain had the right idea, I thought. I could hide in the blizzard until the match ends, and I could leave and make my escape afterwards. I figured I needed a weapon in case someone caught me. I went to the weapon box and searched through it.

"I left this for you." Javier told me as he pointed to a weapon sitting against the wall of blue spray paint.

I looked at it. It was a bowie knife, covered in blood with metal chipped away from the blade from over usage. It was Joe's knife, Blood-Nap.

"How did he…" I asked quietly as I looked at it.

Time has weathered it. It was cold, old, and covered in a lot of dry blood. I held it in my hand, it gave me hope, hope that my friends were still alive, a reminder that they were thinking the same thing as me. It gave me a sign, a sign to fight.

"Let's go." I told them.

Michelle ran up the hill to the left where it was covered from the storm. We looked down into the blizzard, the two figures of Sandy and the Captain barely visible to us.

"Snipers!" Michelle yelled as she pointed further up the snowy trail, where people with rifles fired upon them.

"Take them out!" She yelled as I ran with her. I ran behind a sniper and grabbed him by the neck. I slammed him into the slush and then stomped him out. Michelle fired her pistol at the other sniper and then kicked them down the snowy hill into the blizzard.

"What are you doing?" I asked Jethro and Javier.

"What needs to be done." Jethro told him as he injected Javier with a needle.

Javier blinked for a moment, and looked up at the sky with angered and blood thirsty eyes. He looked down at the attackers, and exhaled a grunt. He then blinked again and then closed his eyes as he slammed face first into the snow.

"Aw, shit, I used the wrong recipe." Jethro sighed to himself.

"I told you, sleeping pills won't make you fight stronger." Amir told them as he walked forward cautiously.

"No different than what would have happened." Michelle told him.

We heard a firefight below us as the Captain and Sandy exited the blizzard into a firing line of Black Team members.

"Sarah grab a rifle and cover them!" Michelle told me as I was two steps ahead of her, loading a .308 bullet into the bolt action rifle.

I fired a Black Team member, and the bullet sparked off the metal plate of the enemy.

"Dammit, they're armored!" I yelled.

"Wait… look…" Jethro told me as he pointed down the hill.

"Stay down!" The Captain yelled at Sandy as she took cover by a rock.

The Captain walked out of their cover as the men and women reloaded their weapons.

"Prepare for battle, Monkey." The Captain said to his shoulder as he glared at the Black Team members.

"Hey?" A Black Team member asked the Captain with a condescending tone.

"When'd the Blue Team get a gay gu—" The Captain fired a spectacular blue charge from his weapon at the man mid-sentence, making him stumble backwards. He stood still, drooling out of his mouth while his team members looked at him.

"What the ass-pot happened?" One asked as they looked at their teammate.

Monkey aimed her tiny blaster at the stunned man and fired green beams at the man, making him fall over onto the ground.

"I—can't –move." The man said from the ground.

"Oh shit!" Many yelled as they frantically looked for clips.

"Hurry up!" One yelled as he loaded shotgun shells into his gun.

The Captain ran at a Black Team member and slid on his knees as she swung her weapon above him. He fired behind him and fired at her with his Mesmetron. He got up from his knees and walked to the next person as Monkey fired her blaster at the woman.

"Holy shit, guys." Michelle told us.

"That boy can fight." Jethro said in awe.

Sandy looked up from the rock and saw the Captain dodging the attacks of the Black Team and paralyzing them, one-by-one.

I walked down the trail to get a better look at him as he fought the elites of the Black Team. They were powerless, even with their armors and training. He ran around, dodged loose fists and fired in unison with Monkey. I lifted up my rifle to give him assistance, reloading the next bullet into the rifle.

"An amazingly spectacular miracle we are seeing today! The Blue Team's newest recruit is sweeping the floor with the Black Team's veterans!" Dave shouted.

"But his teammates should look out, because Prophet doesn't look happy with them!" Bob exclaimed.

My rifle was slammed down into the snow, and before I can look to my left, I was elbowed in the face, sending me falling towards the cliff. In a last ditch effort, I grabbed my assailant, and pulled them into the blizzard with me.

"Sarah!" Michelle yelled as she aimed her gun randomly in the blizzard below her.

"Oooh! Looks like Prophet and Miss Marston are taking the fight downstairs!" Bob informed the audience.

We tumbled down the freezing snow until we landed at the bottom. Face down; I lifted myself, wiping my face of the numbing snow as I looked through the dark storm. I was then tackled by him, with his voice yelled at me throughout the winds. I got up, blinded by the snow passing between us. I could only see the shadow of a sword that was jabbed at me. I dodged it, and then kicked it out of his hands and came around with a punch to his face. His head flew back and I took the chance to grapple him. I slammed myself into him, knocking him down into the ground. I held his black leather jacket as he punched my stomach. I grabbed his neck with my homemade mittens and lifted a fist at the man's face.

The snow cleared up for a moment, and the face of the man was revealed to me. He was old, helpless and skinny. He had a long grey beard going down to his chest. His gray hair was wet with melted snow and parted around his forehead in the water. I got off of him as he looked more clearly at my face.

"Joe?!" I yelled through the howling winds.

"Sarah?! Oh my God, is that you?!" He yelled back as he caught a breath.

"Holy shit, it's you!" I yelled as I helped him up and hugged him.

"I-I didn't know it was you, you're different looking." He told me.

"I couldn't see you in this blizzard!" I yelled.

"Listen to me, Sarah. Meet me next to the Green Team's base in the Steamworks, we can't talk here." Joe said as he laid down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" I asked loudly.

"Acting like I'm defeated, and also, trying to sleep. You really tired me out." He told me.

"Okay." I said as I ran out of the blizzard.

"Marston wins the blind blizzard match! What an amazing feat for the Blue Team!" Dave yelled.

"That's it, then! Blue Team is the victor of the Big Team Battle!" Bob shouted.

I wiped my face of the snow and saw the Captain standing next to the Black Team soldiers, all of them knocked out and tired of fighting.

Sandy walked up to him, her face surprised.

"You won." She said to him.

"We won!" Sandy yelled with a smile on her face as she hugged the Captain. He looked down at her, his face angry at first, but calm afterwards.

"How the hell did you do all that?!" Jethro asked him as we walked up the trail to the elevator together.

"Guys… what… what happened?" Javier asked from the ground as we walked by him.

"Was I in a blind rage again?" He asked us as he got up tiredly and entered the elevator.

"Shit Marston, you took a beating." Michelle said to me as she looked at my face.

"It's all numb." I shrugged.

"So how'd you kick that Prophet guy's ass?" Michelle asked.

"I, uh, didn't." I told her.

"What?" She asked me.

"We'll talk at the base." I told her as we gave the guards our weapons.

"Yeah. We should." She told me as she gave me a look and walked away.

I looked back at her, confused. I continued to walk to the solace of the base along with everyone else. The fire was dimmed and almost out completely, only a few sparks and cracks came from the dying fire. It was warmer down here, but my body and face were still numb from the cold. Michelle turned to me as I went to put more junk onto the fire.

"I need you to be honest to us. All of us." Michelle said as she took a stone shiv out from her hip and pointed it at me.

"W-What's the problem?" I asked them as the team stared at the two of us.

"I appreciate the "help" you got for Cosmos this match, but you need to be honest with me. Right now." She growled.

"If you're working against us, working for someone else, whatever your agenda is, I'm warning you now." She said in almost a whisper.

"It'd be a mistake to do that."

"Alright, fine." I told her. "What would it take for me to prove I'm not?" I asked.

"First off, you can take me to see your new friend on the Black Team." Michelle said as she put her handmade knife away.

"Okay, sure." I nodded.

"Good. Jethro, heat us up some dinner and hold on to our rewards if the soldiers come by while we're gone." Michelle told him.

"Sure thing, boss." Jethro said as he sparked the fire.

"Yeah, and make sure you don't overcook my food today." Hoyt told him.

Jethro looked at Javier and they both sighed, turning away and ignoring Hoyt as the fire built up.

"Let's go." I told her.

We went into the crowd, which was an easier task for me now, maybe due to experience, or the lack of an entire team on the floor. We waded through the crowd, nudging people out of the way until I made it to Joe's meeting point: a dark corner with a wall covering us from the crowd of people. Michelle and I waited for about twenty minutes, and when Joe didn't show up, Michelle became anxious.

"Where is this guy?" She asked me.

"I don't know." I told her.

"I swear if this is some kind of trap—"

"Sarah?" Joe asked me.

I turned around to see Joe, in a better light. Like Lennie, he's changed dramatically. He had a long gray beard going down to his collar bone and spread out to the beginning of his shoulders. His gray hair was combed down neatly, and was dyed with subtle black streaks. He also had a pair of eyeglasses nestled at the end of his nose. Behind the two lenses were dark bags under his eyes, as if he wasn't getting enough sleep.

"Ho… whaaat… the fuck happened to you?" I blurted out.

"Like it? I love beards and now I can finally grow the one I want without Nat yelling at me to keep it clean!" He exclaimed.

"But it's so great to see you again." Joe said as he hugged me. I thought I smelled burnt wood on him.

"I thought you died. It's been, like a year since I've seen you!" Joe exclaimed with a smile that almost went under my radar if it weren't for his cheekbones.

"Yeah, more like a few months, but—"

"Who's this?" Joe asked me, looking at Michelle.

"This is Michelle. She's on my team, and—"

"Can I trust her?" He asked lowly, but not low enough.

"Uh…" I looked over at her, and she looked at me, waiting for an answer.

"It's actually… uh, well, it's not like that, you see." I told him.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked me.

"Are you saying you didn't get this when you joined?" I asked him.

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked.

I turned my head quickly to her. "Let us talk." I told her in a normal voice.

"There are spies around here, trying to kill random people who are a threat to Dodson. You know about this?" I asked him, going back to almost a whisper.

"Well, yeah, but it's not a problem. Our team has precautions for stuff like that—tricks, traps… immense amounts of alcohol…" He explained.

"Well it's not like that at our team." I told him.

"So have you seen anyone else since you got here other than me?" I asked him.

"You didn't answer my question, Sarah." Joe said again as his eyes glanced over at Michelle.

I looked over at her again. "Yeah…" I said after a pause. "Yeah we can."

"Alright, follow me." Joe said as he pushed up his glasses and walked in front of us.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"You'll see." He told me.

"'Kay, sure." I said as I looked back at Michelle, who held her hands at her hips, her left hand gripping her shiv.

We walked forwards to a brick wall with no light hitting it. People did not walk over here, as this wall was near Dodson's elevator.

"Check this out." He said as he tapped on the wall.

We waited for a few seconds, looking at the wall silently.

"Son-of-a-bitch Southern hippie…" Joe mumbled as he tapped on the wall rhythmically.

Joe tapped on the wall a third time. When nothing happened, he kicked it. Soon, the brick wall jerked around and slid open, exposing dust and darkness.

Joe walked inside, and we followed in, looking around.

"Thanks for making sure it were me tapping out a special code, dumbass." Joe said into the darkness as he tapped on something in the darkness, lighting up the room with a gust of flame and light.

"Could you stop yellin' for a second?" A voice asked in a sickly manner.

"I honestly doubt you're drunk again." Joe told him.

"Yeah, you're right, I usually just say that to get you to shut up." The voice said.

"Pretty cool, right? I won it after killing some veteran on the Green Team." Joe told me.

"Sorry, Len." Joe said as he looked over at Lennie as he ate on the ground.

"Eh, he wasn't nice, anyway." Lennie shrugged.

"What the hell are you doing bringing _them_ here?" Lennie asked Joe as he looked at us.

"So we can find Ulysses and get the hell out of here, Lennie, that's why." Joe explained to him.

"Who cares?" He asked as he looked at a case of bottle in the corner of the giant hole in the wall.

"Can someone tell me what you drunkards are doing in here?" Michelle asked them.

"Whoa…" Joe said as he backed away from her.

"What's up your ass?" Lennie asked her.

"From what I heard, her boyfriend isn't!" Joe and Lennie laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure he can still make passionate alternative love to you." Joe apologized.

"So I take it you guys haven't seen Ulysses around here?" I asked them as I held up a bottle of beer.

"We were hoping you've seen him." Joe told me.

"Guess we're gonna have to look for him, then." I said in between sips of beer.

"So you're going to drink, too, now?" Michelle asked me.

I glanced at Joe for a second, still keeping my face in front of Michelle's.

"Yeah." I answered quickly as I took another sip.

"You're not going to have one?" I asked Joe.

"I don't drink anymore." Joe told me.

"Ew."

"And I thought you were the one who made that long speech about not doing drugs." Michelle said as she crossed her arms.

"You're right Michelle, I don't know what came over me. C'mon, let's go get some psycho and get Hoyt to OD tonight." I said sarcastically.

"Call me a hypocrite, but I need one of these." I said as I took another sip.

"So how was fitting in for you guys?" I asked them.

"My team hates me." Lennie responded.

"It was pretty rough going into here, but I think I got myself together. I think I did." He said as he sat down on clothes.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"He's just being a big baby." Lennie sighed.

"Well, I hope you guys have some time on your hands, because this is going to be a long one." Joe said to us.


	68. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68: Prophet**

"Drop it, casanova." The man said to him, firing a shot behind him as a warning.

I let go of Lennie and stood beside Ulysses and him as the group of people drew closer to us. We went to our knees and looked over the cliff as the men aimed their weapons behind us. I looked over to Lennie, and he turned his head to me as he was blindfolded and bagged. Before I knew it, I was facing darkness.

Joe was bagged as well, and dragged throughout the desert. His hands and feet were bound as he was pulled away from the cliff.

"You have to get down there! She could still be alive!" Lennie yelled as Joe heard more thumping and scraping across sand.

"Let go of us, we didn't do anything!" Joe yelled as he tried to wiggle free of his binds.

"Sarah! Sarah! Are you there?" Joe yelled for me. I couldn't hear, I was knocked unconscious.

"Son of a bitch! Where are you taking us?!" Joe yelled.

"Calm down, old man, before you have a heart attack."

Lennie's sobs and yells subsided, and it was only Joe yelling, his lungs on fire.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you all, you pieces of shit!" Joe yelled.

"I can't believe we got these three, can you believe it?" Joe heard muffled voices through the burlap sack that was over his head, barely heard through Joe's heavy breathing.

"You know what we can get for this? We're gonna' be set!" A voice exclaimed.

"Let's just get them back to Dodson before he sends people after us." Another voice said.

"I know you're there! Where are you taking me?!" He yelled in almost a gasp.

"Jesus, this guy's annoying. Do we have anything for him?" The voice asked.

"How about you give me my left foot so I can SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!" Joe barked through his gasps.

"Just bind his smart ass mouth I used the rest of the chems already." A voice said.

The thumps stopped, and Joe fell over onto the ground, grunting. He felt a hand on his head that pulled off the bag, showing him the land.

It was sand, sand for miles and miles, they were traveling on the horses we saw, and the men were dressed in sand colored hoods and clothing. He turned his head around to get any bearing. There was none, we were in the middle of nowhere. Joe turned his head back to his captors and was met with the end of a laser rifle cracking against his head and landing him on the burning hot sand. The man then lifted his drooling and bleeding head from his hair and tied a cloth around his opened mouth, tying it at his neck. The bag was then placed back on his head, and he was lifted back to the mount that galloped on in the endless desert.

When he got his energy back, he began to yell again through the cloth. Short, angry words mumbled through the cloth, not making any sense as the group trudged on through the land. Joe had wasted all his energy and he passed out soon after from the immense heat. Barely conscious, he felt his binds release, one by one, until he could see again.

Through the small, slightly opened eyelids, Joe saw where he was. He was inside a room with red and black carpet, and a desk with a golden eagle sitting at the end of it. He was in a chair, looking up at Mister Dodson.

"How are you, sweety?" Dodson asked him gently.

His eyes opened more, slowly, twitching until Dodson could see the glassy whiteness of his eyes. Joe's face was blackened and dirty, and he sweated all over. His throat rasped out his first response.

"Why don't you ask your wife?" He chuckled tiredly, barely curling his mouth for a smile.

His laugh was interrupted by Dodson smacking his cane across his face, making Joe yell out in pain.

"I think my joke was funnier." Dodson told him with a smile.

"'Funnier' isn't a word, dumbass." Joe rasped out again. He was met with another strike.

"No… no, hold on, I'm not done yet… I still have more." Joe said weakly.

He paused to breathe for a moment.

"The only joke you made was wearing that suit." Joe chuckled the insult. Dodson met him with his cane again, and Joe was almost struck out of the chair.

"I'm surprised you can still keep that chipper attitude, Ol' Yeller." Dodson smiled again.

"I'm sorry…" Joe said as he wiped blood from his mouth slowly.

"I think… I think there's only room for one sarcastic douche here." Joe continued.

"So do you want me to continue, or do you want to start interrogating me? Or was that show of foreplay… just a formality?" Joe asked him.

"…and I don't even know your name yet." Joe smiled out of the corners of his mouth.

Joe was hit in the head again, snapping his head off to the side.

"Mister Dodson." Joe was informed.

Joe breathed in deeply, for a second as sweat poured off his face.

"So what do they call your boyfriend? Misses Dod—" Joe was interrupted by another blow to the side of the head.

"Are you really going to reply to all my sentences with a joke?" Dodson asked him.

"I've got a pretty high streak that I'm trying to beat." Joe said sarcastically as he rubbed his jaw.

"Well, I just thought that you would like to know about how you're going to be spending the rest of your life—which is about a month probably—here in the Arena." Mister Dodson informed him.

"You're going to be fighting for my teams, yours will be Black. I can't tell you how important it is for you to be at your prime for the entertainment of the audience. So I would like to suit all of your mundane needs. Would you like me to replace that chair you're sitting on with one that rocks back and forth?" He said in a faux-caring way.

"Oh!" Joe laughed as he lazily lifted up his hands.

"Old people jokes, huh? At least I've used my wiener on something other than a magazine of Pugilism Illustrated." Joe retorted. Another smack was dealt again.

"No, no, keep going. You're starting to wake me up." Joe told him. Dodson cracked the cane against his already bleeding head again.

"Since your senile old brain is going to forget what I said, let me be paramount when I say this." Dodson said as he crouched down to Joe's level.

"You will not escape. I will make sure to that. I won't let any of one escape and hurt anyone ever again." Dodson said to him.

"Wait…" Joe exhaled.

"Can you say that again? I think I need a new hearing aid." He told him weakly. "'Cause I'm old and all…"

"This is Multiplayer. And you will fight." Dodson told him as he smacked him across the face, sending Joe barreling into the floor. "At least it was soft." He told us.

He awoke later on different flooring. His eyes creaked open, and he crawled forwards, still blinded in one eye from the cane. He coughed and pushed himself to his knees, breathing in heavily as he lifted himself to his shaking, weakened legs. He wiped his face of sweat and scraped his arm gently with the dried blood on his face. Metal chains clanked against his face, and he looked down at it. Joe's vision was doubled, and he managed to spot a cufflink locked around his right wrist, a loose chain broken off of it. He shambled forward, looking around through his right eye to see where he was.

It was a large room with a dome surrounding him, a few panes of glass let in sunlight at the top. People cheered around him as distant gunfire and screams echoed over the cheering audience. His legs trudged forward as he looked around, face swollen, and blackened with dirt. He was weak, and fell over to a boulder on his side, where he rested on it, catching his breath. Joe pushed off of the rock and moved slowly towards the sound of pain. He closed his eyes for a moment for temporary slumber, but it was cut short after a person ran out from behind the boulder and held Joe at knifepoint.

"I don't suppose you're here to give me a tour." Joe told the attacker sarcastically.

Her eyes glared at him and she yelled, pulling back her knife, and pushing it forward. Joe held her arm back from plunging the knife into him, and the two initiated a contest of force. He grinded his teeth as he weakly defended from her. The knife moved closer to him as his strength diminished and he grew tired, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a grenade roll next to the two. Joe's attacker noticed this and gasped at it. Joe took this time to disarm her knife.

"I'm sorry about this!" He grunted as he pushed her into the grenade and used the moment to push off of her and run away.

The grenade went off, and dirt and blood went everywhere into the air. Joe was breathing frantically, making him more tired as he limped away from the explosion. A firefight initiated at the blast site, and bullets and plasma were exchanged all around him. Joe jogged as fast as he could and slid into cover behind a rock as he caught his breath. He inhaled deeply, and two people flipped over the rock Joe was hiding behind, landing in front of him as the two punched each other. A man pinned his attacker on the ground and pulled put a pistol to finish him off. Joe took this chance to grab the pistol from the man's hand. He looked over at Joe with an eyebrow raised.

"This is mine now." Joe sighed as he lazily fired at the two men. They fell over, bleeding through their torsos and looking at Joe as he made a disgusted face at them.

He held onto the pistol as he caught his breath, kicking over the bodies to make room for him.

His eyes were squinted, blinded by the lights that blast above him. He could only hear gunfire and people cheering. He knew he was breathing heavily, resting his head on the rock while people fought nearby. Joe was confused, bum-rushed by random violence.

"Argh…" He sighed.

"This…_sucks_." He told himself, trying to calm himself down.

"Alright." He told himself in a whisper as he moved up to the rock.

He looked over the rock, where the explosives and gunfire stopped around him. Bodies were all over, and no person stood at the center, it was quiet and empty, all the living were gone in and instant. He looked around, disoriented and tired. He walked through the bodies, to the center of the arena, and looked up through the giant hole in the center of the dome while the audience continued to whistle and cheer. He was amazed, amazed that people would watch this. Joe may not seem like it, but he never would condone this bloodshed if he didn't have to, he just wasn't good at keeping fights from starting, and his fight was just about to end.

A gun's hammer clicked down, making Joe look down from the small slit of night sky onto a man with a gun.

"Thought you could hide the entire time?" The man asked him quietly as he stared at Joe through the sights of his pistol.

"Just take it easy…" Joe told him, matching his quiet and grim tone.

"I'm going to win this thing, I have to. I'm sorry, friend, it's nothing personal." He told Joe.

"Listen, we can talk this out." Joe reasoned as he held his pistol at the ground, wanting nothing more than to be able to use it.

"You don't understand, you can't—not here, it's a sick, twisted game where everyone loses. There isn't room for scientists and doctors. This is our destiny, _your_ destiny. We're being punished." The man told Joe with his eyes squinting in remorse.

"For what? By who?" Joe asked him.

"By God—" He said to Joe.

"Just for being alive in this wretched world." The man said to Joe.

"There's no room in heaven for murderers, thieves, and scavengers." He whispered.

"There's no room for people like you, like us." He said to Joe, lifting the pistol up to his head.

"But _I_ can change, I know it." The man told Joe.

"I can win this and I can earn my way back into heaven, but… but I _need_ to do this first." He went back to whispering his prophetical words.

"No you don't." Joe shook his head.

"Don't you see? Your destiny was set long ago before you got here, your time is up—it's someone else's turn now." He said, pausing once again to look down.

"It could be _my_ turn now." The man looked up at Joe, and stressed his face in anger as he pushed the pistol outwards for his shot.

Joe closed his eyes and heard a loud crash boom into his ears. His body became numb, his senses were split off, and he only had darkness and silence to comfort him.

His eyes creaked open, and he was on the ground. He didn't feel himself barrel over, but that's where he was. He looked around slowly to the side. He was surrounded by choking flames, scattered all around the area. His clothes were blackened and his shoes were smoking. He rolled over and coughed, his lungs forced him to. He got to his knees and lifted himself up, feeling his age as he struggled to lift himself up. He looked around the area—he was alone, his swollen eye now fully open.

There wasn't a soul left there, Joe stood at the center of the arena by himself as the audience gasped and 'oohed'.

"HOLY SHIT-COCK THAT WAS SPECTACULAR!" Dodson screamed through the television sets.

"The newest noob triumphs over all and lives to tell the tale!" Dave announced.

"I'm sorry, I had to pee, what happened?" Bob asked as he sat down next to Dave.

"You just had to be there." Dave told him.

"Oh, what kind of bullcrap response is that? You were there, just tell me what happened!" Bob exclaimed.

"Just—just shut up for a second." Dave hushed.

"Congratulations Black Team for completing the haze! Enjoy the reward!" Dave congratulated.

Joe heard bits and pieces of the conversation, his ears were still ringing, and his whole body burned. He limped forward, his head spinning and his stomach nauseous. He walked one step and fell to his hands and knees, shouting out in pain. The ground was still hot, and Joe jumped up from it, rolling down off the hill and slamming at the bottom with burnt palms. He closed his eyes and was forced onto the brink of slumber. Joe heard subtle voices alerting the audience where the exits of the arena are, and the slow creaking of metal. His eyelids fluttered and he looked ahead. He glazed over an opening door of people in in bright yellow hazmat suits. It caught his eye, and he looked up at them.

"Secure the wounded, don't forget to test them." A radio through one of the people said.

They took the wounded and unconscious, grabbing their limbs and dragging their bloody bodies back towards their elevator.

He gasped weakly and backed away from them in fear. He looked around, and the people in the suits took more and more of the defeated players, dragging their wounded bodies across the dirt and injecting them with needles. Some screamed, others were too weak to do anything and succumbed to their fate. Joe looked for his gun, but it left his person, and was nowhere to be found.

Joe was spotted by one of them, and the person in the suit held the wire radio on their chest.

"We have a conscious one. He's old, what should I do?" The woman asked his radio.

There was a pause.

"Okay." She said.

"Hey." The lady told Joe as he breathed heavily and backed away.

"You're bleeding a lot; you're not going to make it unless I help you." The woman told him in an easy voice, moving closer to him, and making Joe crawl backwards.

"I wanted to distance myself from him." Joe told us during the story.

"Sure." Lennie scoffed.

I knew better, I knew that Joe doesn't act like that. He was afraid, just as defeated as the players being dragged away. I thought that maybe that prophet got to him.

"It's okay, you're going to be fine… but you're burned and you have lacerations all over you. Let me help." She told him as she pulled out her needle.

Joe gasped roughly and backed up into a rock.

"You're going to be okay, I promise." She eased him as she held his trembling hand.

Joe breathed quickly and looked at her. He eventually slowed down and closed his eyes as the woman moved the needle to his skin.

"Secured one. Dropping it off now." She said in her radio.

Joe opened his eyes in an instant and pushed her away onto the ground. He yelled out as he got on his feet, limping away and looking everywhere for an exit.

"I got one running!" The woman yelled on her radio, alerting the other hazmats to the center of the arena, where Joe held onto his wounds and attempted to run.

The hazmats surrounded him, and started to close in as Joe painfully hyperventilated and moved slowly. His head twisted in all directions as he looked or an exit, his feet feeling like they were flailing around at light speed. His senses stunted, Joe didn't notice a hole in the ground, and twisted his ankle in it, making him yell out and fall onto the ground. He lifted his foot up and looked around as the hazmat team walked over to him.

He backed away, breathing and yelling out at the same time. He saw no escape; in fact his hair and blood covered his face almost completely.

"Get away…" Joe breathed out.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" He shouted as he held his leg.

Several of the hazmat team, all breathing through their filters and carrying surgical equipment stared down at him.

"We're making sure you aren't infected." One of them told Joe.

"With what?" He spat out in response as he wheezed.

The team looked at each other, stopping a few feet away from Joe.

Metal creaked and echoed in the now empty arena, breaking the silence of the earth. Joe looked around to see an elevator door open behind him. He pulled his foot out of the hole and crawled on his stomach towards the open door.

The hazmat team turned around and began running at Joe as he clenched his teeth and pulled himself into the elevator.

"Don't let him escape we're not done analyzing his sample yet!" One of them yelled as they rushed towards Joe.

He lay on his back, facing the hazmat team that ran at him. He looked around inside the elevator until he met his eyes on the buttons on the side. He couldn't get up, he was too weak to do it and the buttons were out of his reach. He lifted his leg up to him and pulled on the shoe of his twisted foot, making him yelp in pain as he pulled it off. He tossed the shoe at the controls of the elevator and the doors began to slowly close from the top.

Joe coughed from breathing in the ash as he backed up until he hit the wall. He looked at the door as it closed. He knew it wasn't going to close in time and that he had to do anything to get it to close. He looked over at his fallen shoe to his side and picked it up, tossing it at the nearest person. They jumped back, but it was otherwise ineffective. He then tugged at his other shoe, yelling and muttering curses at them as he tossed the other at them. It hit a suit in the head, and they yelled out.

"Breach, breach, these could be infected!" He yelled.

"Just let him go." A voice said to them.

"But he could be infected!" One argued.

"We'll find him again." The woman said to them as the team stopped and stared at Joe as the doors began to close up.

"Captain, you might want to see this." A hazmat said as he held a piece of tech to her.

"Ah… I see…" She said as the doors closed up and the elevator started to move.

Joe fell to his side in relief and drooled onto the floor as he closed his eyes. He felt he was safe, that he made it. Then, he let his thoughts get to him. He thought of my father, that one of the last things he did was get into an elevator that led to his death. Joe got anxious, and he showed his true colors.

He didn't want to die.

He began to breathe heavily and looked up at the doors of the elevator and he wiped the blood and sweat from his face. The doors opened up, and Joe looked up at guards as they held their weapons at him.

"Relinquish any weapons you may have used during the match or you will suffer the consequences." A guard ordered.

"I-I don't have any weapons." Joe told them.

"Search him." A guard said.

They lifted Joe to his feet and patted him down in the elevator.

"Clean." The guard said.

"You may proceed to your camp." A guard said.

"What?" Joe asked.

The guards walked away, leaving Joe in the elevator alone. He walked out and looked around the Steamworks. He was beaten, bloodied, sweaty, barefooted and his clothes were torn up and burned, barely hanging on his body. People stared at him as he swept his hair back out from in front of his eyes. He lumbered forward, moving slowly as he looked around the underground. People pushed him out of the way as the old man kept his head down, not knowing his place among the other fighters. He had one word in his head the entire time, "Black" he looked for the color in a sea of rainbow. He was tired, and Joe's eyes began to slowly close on him. He left the crowd of people and looked around for a place to rest his feet.

"Hey." A person said behind Joe.

He turned around slowly, and looked up at him.

"What do you want?" Joe asked dryly.

"Come with me." He said as he walked Joe to a corner in the Steamworks behind two burned out walls.

"You're the new guy, I can tell." He said to Joe.

"You don't have to do that to your clothes, you know, they just give you a black shirt to begin with." He smiled as they walked to the camp.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes." Joe told him.

"You don't look like it." He said to Joe.

"Really?" Joe glared sarcastically at him.

"My name's Danny." He told Joe.

"Joe, and I'm sorry I'm not in the mood for pleasantries, but I think I'm missing an ear and broke my foot." Joe told him as he moved towards the camp.

"You can rest just as soon as I have my way with you." Danny told him.

"W-What?" Joe asked him.

"I'll treat your wounds." Danny said to Joe.

"Then just say that, then." Joe mumbled as he shook his head.

"Sit down." Danny told him as he pointed to a sofa.

"Everyone's asleep from all the thumping with each other." Danny smiled.

Joe looked at him.

"We've just got back from a fight." Danny told him.

"Speaking of fight how'd yours go? Seems like you've been through something deep." Danny told him.

"Something like that…" Joe said as he was injected in the neck with a stimpak.

"Well how'd you get flamed like that?" He asked Joe.

"I-I don't know… I… think it was lightning, or electricity. It happened so fast." Joe said as he tried his memory.

"So how are you still up and about?" Danny asked.

"I was going to die, right before then. The man said that God had a plan for everyone. Maybe I was saved by God." Joe said.

"No, don't say that, that's dumb." Danny shook his head.

"Level-Up from Mr. Dodson." A guard said to the two.

"What do you want your nickname to be?" The guard asked Joe as he stood up.

"Maybe we should call you a prophet, then." Danny suggested.

"I'll go with that." Joe nodded to the guard as he opened the case up and pulled out a bulletproof vest.

"Nice first reward, noob." Danny told him.

"Don't call me that, it makes you sound mentally challenged." Joe told him as he took it and looked at his reward.

"Oh… 'kay." Danny said disappointingly as he looked down.

"I need to sleep now. When I wake up in the morning, we'll gather up your team and work on getting out of here." Joe said to Danny.

"What?" Danny laughed.

"I haven't backed out on anyone, no matter how tight and hard it got for me." Danny told him.

"Jesus Christ, guy." Joe sighed and looked at the person.

"I'm sorry, but we have it pretty good here, Dodson treats us well, we have a home, a home where anything can happen with your dirty, sloppy family." Danny explained.

"Why… do you have to phrase it like that?" Joe mumbled.

"If you think you're going to leave tomorrow, you've got another thing coming." Danny said.

Joe paused for a moment.

"I think _I_ was the one who made that last one dirty." Joe said to himself.

"Yes, you did."

"Well, if you won't help, my friends will." Joe said to him as he laid down on the couch.

"Well your friends better be the winners of this thing tomorrow, otherwise your dream is going to get really wet."

"Okay, that's it. Don't talk to me for the rest of the night." Joe announced as he closed his eyes.


	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69: Mercy**

"It obviously took a little while for me to adjust." Joe told us.

"Michelle, what infection were they talking about?" I asked her.

"Uh, you don't know?" She asked us.

"Obviously not, otherwise she wouldn't have asked you." Joe told her.

"…stupid." He mumbled afterwards.

"It's nothing to worry about, but those people who go in the water, if they get any of that stuff on you, you'll get sick." She said to us.

"What?" Joe asked again as he looked at me with his eyes wide open.

"Does this always happen to people?" I asked her.

"Only when you're dumb enough to get grabbed by them." Michelle scoffed.

"Don't say that around me again." Joe glared at her as he got up and turned his back to us.

"What's the matter? Is one of you infected?" Michelle asked.

"No. No." I shook my head at her.

"Then what's the problem?" She asked us.

"Go back to your teams, guys. I need to get my reward." Joe told us.

"Great. Whatever." Lennie mumbled as he took his beer with him.

"What'd I say?" Michelle asked me.

"Nothing, let's go." I told her as we left the annex.

"Wait a minute." Lennie said as he ran over to Michelle.

"What is that?" He asked as he pointed to Michelle's waist.

"A… gask mask I got." Michelle told him.

"That's Rilee, Sarah, that's Rilee's!" Lennie yelled at me.

I sighed. "Lennie—"

"No, I recognize it, it's hers!" Lennie exclaimed.

"Do you know what that means?" He asked me.

"Lennie, you're drunk and tired, just get some rest and we'll talk about it later." I told him.

"No I'm not! Sarah, I—"

"Lennie—enough. I understand where you're coming from. I've been thinking like you for a while and it's getting to me, but we can't just go crazy down here. We need to get our heads on straight." I told him.

Lennie looked at Michelle's mask and then at me angrily. He then turned around and walked away from us.

"You've got some exciting friends, there." Michelle told me sarcastically.

"They're not the same anymore, we've been through a lot in the past year." I told her as we walked through the crowd, pushing people around to get through with more ease.

"Level-Ups for Miss Marston." A guard said as we walked towards the camp.

I opened the case and pulled out a blue and black flannel-patterned hoodie and a black winter cap. I put them on over my makeshift winter clothes. My ears were finally covered with warmth again after my hair left my body.

"I'm going to get some sleep, if a 'spy' is still allowed to do that." I told Michelle as I walked away to my bed.

"I got the fire started, Michelle." Jethro told her.

"I don't care." She shook her head as she walked to see Hoyt.

"Oh…" Jethro said quietly as he turned around.

Only a few dozen feet away, Lennie stumbled through the crowd of people, his beer spilling over the ground.

"Oh, thanks for that, I forgot to offer the ground a drink, asshole." Lennie said to the people around him.

He exited the storm of people and went into his camp, where his teammates glanced at him with a smile. Lennie didn't seem to notice. He was tired, and he went to his tent for much needed sleep. He zipped open the flap and revealed spilled water all over his sleeping bag.

"What the hell?" Lennie yeleld as he backed away from the cold water.

His teammates broke down into a booming laughter as they looked at Lennie.

"You think this is funny? This stuff's freezing!" Lennie yelled at them.

"You gotta admit, we tried! That's more we can say about you!" One of them managed to speak through the laughter.

"You want me to try, asshole?!" Lennie yelled as he chucked his beer bottle at him, smashing it on his face.

The laughter stopped as Lennie ran over to him and grabbed him by the neck, throwing him into the ground and making him roll over. His teammate tried to get to his feet, but Lennie ran over to him and get him a sharp kick to his face. The rest of his team went after Lennie and pulled him away from the fight and into the guards as they emerged on Lennie, taking him by the hair and pulling him away into Dodson's office. They threw Lennie into a chair in front of Mister Dodson as he adjusted a golden eagle trophy on his desk.

"Dude, that really wasn't cool, you know I have to punish you for that, right?" Dodson asked him.

"I don't give a shit." Lennie told him as he looked down at the red and orange carpet.

"Now, now. I don't think Rilee would approve of the new you… or maybe she would." Dodson said, egging him on.

Lennie looked up slowly at him, his eyebrows lowering in anger.

"Surprised? I know everything about the denizens here, and I have to admit, your 'crusade' for technology has me intrigued." Mister Dodson told him as he put his feet on his desk.

"Shame about your girlfriend, really, I apologize for that—but let me ask you something, Len…" Dodson said as he looked Lennie in the eye.

"Do you really think we're all at danger? Do you really think it was worth it?" Dodson asked him.

"Doesn't matter now, does it?" Lennie responded.

"It does. I can tell, you have what it takes to get out of here, earn your freedom and be considered forgiven for your crimes, you just need to apply yourself."

"But what do you think you're going to do after you leave? Go out to Nevada where something _might_ be there? That doesn't seem logical, after what Sarah's put you through." Dodson added.

"What are you getting at?" Lennie asked him.

"Can't you see you're being played? Really? A single explosion killing off the entire world? Don't you think that seems ridiculous in the tiniest bit?" Dodson asked.

"I know you're not the bad guy Lennie, and I'm giving you a chance to rethink your strategy of travelling with those three criminals. You're not going down a good road, and I can help you." Dodson said.

"What did you have in mind?" Lennie questioned.

"Just do this one favor, and I'll give you my personal resources in winning this competition."

"What's your angle here? What are you getting out of this?"

"I'm making sure Sarah Marston and her friends never hurt anyone again."

Lennie exited the arena elevator and walked into the grand arena. The lights blinked on all around, one by one. There wasn't a single person speaking or cheering, he was all alone.

"Alright, it's just this one thing, and you'll get my help for now on." Dodson said over the arena intercom.

"Hello? Who's there?" A voice called out in the dark arena.

A light turned on overhead, revealing Randy and Cassidy tied to poles and blindfolded.

"Cass, just stay calm, we'll get through this." Randy told her.

"Open the box." Dodson said to Lennie as a light revealed one of Dodson's mystery boxes.

Lennie opened it, and held up two gold-plated brass knuckles.

"You can take 'em with you when you leave, just don't go punching people with it." Dodson told him.

"I think you know what I want you to do with those." Dodson said as Lennie put the brass knuckles on his hands.

"They both have a history of murdering innocent people. Just take care of them a little bit, and that's it for you." Dodson explained.

Lennie walked up to Randy and Cassidy, and looked down at them.

"Who's there? Don't listen to him, man! He's lying! We do what we have to in here!" Randy yelled out.

"I'm not talking about 'in here'." Dodson said over the speakers.

"W-What?" Cassidy asked as she moved her head up into the air.

"You don't have to kill them, just send a message to these two." Dodson told Lennie.

Lennie lifted up a fist in front of them and walked closer to them.

"Please, I—I didn't do anything! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Randy yelled.

Lennie had doubt all over his face, his eyes were squinted and he breathed in quickly as he struggled to make a choice.

"If you stop them now, you'll keep them from hurting anyone ever again. You can make a difference." Dodson told Lennie.

"No! Get away from us, you son-of-a-bitch!" Cassidy yelled blindly into the air.

Lennie lifted up his other fist and walked even closer to them.

"No! NO!" Cassidy yelled as pulled back a fist and grunted as he threw it forward.

Minutes passed, and the elevator doors opened, allowing Lennie to walk back to his camp.

"A message from Mr. Dodson. He says to meet him in his office later today." A guard told him.

He cracked his knuckles and stretched his shoulders as he went to his camp, where his teammates surrounded the wounded man, looking up in surprise to see him.

"What the hell are you doing here? How'd you get those?" One asked as they looked at his golden knuckles.

"There's going to be some change around here." Lennie told them as he put his hands on his hips.

Guards walked up to Lennie, all holding cases in their hands.

"Congratulations on your rank-up to veteran, Bruiser." A guard said as all the guards opened up cases of supplies at Lennie.

His lips curled to a smile as he looked at his rewards.

"Thank you." He told them.


	70. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70: Testing**

"The fire's dying. Do we have anything for it?" I asked the team as we ate dinner one night a little over a week later.

"Uh, yeah." Javier said as he took some wood and threw it onto the fire.

"Don't throw it like that; you're going to choke it out." Jethro told him as he gently moved the wood to the side and blew on the fire.

"My head's killing me; did we get any medicine for that?" I asked Amir.

"No, sorry. Just take it easy from now on." Amir told me.

"I think I have a hemorrhoid." Jethro told us.

"Jesus Christ." Michelle whispered as she put her fork down in disgust.

"Is this what we talk about now?" I asked.

"So I take it you're not going to eat this stuff?" Javier asked the Captain.

"No." He responded.

"I'll take it." Sandy told him.

"Another serving? You must be hungry." I told her.

"Yeah." Sandy said as she took the can of soup.

"So what did y'all get for your rewards?" Jethro asked.

"This." I said to him as I looked at my new clothes.

"A lot of orange hair spray and a comb." Javier told him.

"Food and medical supplies." Amir told him.

"Just some air filters for this mask." Michelle said, sounding disappointed.

"I was gifted stained clothing for my efforts." The Captain said to us.

"Uh… just some glitter and stuff." Sandy said quietly to us.

Michelle gave me a look and then looked over at Sandy as she looked at the fire, next to the Captain, who looked down at her and shook his restless leg.

"I'm not hungry anymore." Sandy said to us as she got up and walked away.

"What about that can of soup I gave y—she's gone." Javier sighed.

"We need to do something about it." I told them.

"Why? We're doing just as good without them, Randy and Cassidy were just two extra mouths to feed." Hoyt told us.

"They mean a lot more than you think." The Captain told him.

"Really? How'd you figure that out? Did you do a full body scan with your supercomputer?" Hoyt asked him.

"Hoyt, leave him alone, he's doing a lot more than you are." Javier said.

"Excuse me?" Hoyt responded.

"You heard me." Javier tested.

"Calm down guys, fighting isn't going to get us a solution." I said.

"Well I'm sure sitting here has been working for us so far. We're already doing great, we don't need them anymore!" Hoyt explained to us.

"I agree." Michelle told us.

"I'm sorry guys, but supplies aren't good right now, I mean, do we really have to go to rationing again? It doesn't sound pretty, but we have to do this. Sandy will understand eventually." Michelle said.

"Randy's her brother, Michelle. How could you do that to them when you have the choice right there in front of you?" Javier argued.

"Hoyt and I agreed on it, so it's final, Javier." Michelle told him.

"Who made you two the leaders?" Javier asked.

"You guys haven't argued it before."

"Yeah? Well maybe I'm starting to think differently about you two."

The television sets in our area turned on, and Dodson smiled down at us.

"A special match so soon after the BTB? Well it's _your_ funeral, Blue Team!" Dodson smiled at us.

"_What?!_" Michelle yelled at the television screen as she looked around.

"Who the hell did it?" Hoyt asked us.

We looked around the campsite and did a quick mental headcount.

"_Sandy_!" Michelle exclaimed.

"That son-of-a-bitch." Hoyt cursed.

"What was that sound?" Sandy asked us as she left her tent.

"Then, who—"

The team stood up and looked around the campfire until we went to the Captain for the headcount.

"_Him?_" Michelle asked.

"But, how—"

"See you at the Great Arena!" Mister Dodson cheered for us.

"I'm going to kill that bastard." Hoyt said as he stood up.

"Just sit down and rest, Hoyt." Amir told him.

"No, no, I'm good. I can walk. I'm ready." He told Amir.

"Alright." Amir told him.

"'Alright'? He's been in crutches for weeks!" Michelle threw her hands up.

"Well he was supposed to be out of them last week, but he insisted on staying in them longer, even after the super-stimpak." Amir told her.

"_What?_" I asked Amir angrily as Michelle looked at Hoyt.

"You could have fought in the BTB the whole time!" Javier yelled at him.

"People, we should really get going to the arena before we lose another two people. This can wait until we're done." Jethro told us.

Michelle looked in resentment at her boyfriend, and turned away, running to her tent to get her things together.

I gathered up all my clothing and put them on. I tied the bandana around my neck and held it up to my mouth for warmth as I put on my wool hat. I rolled up my flannel sleeves; I figured I was going to get hot with all the running around. I then tied up my boots and ran to back to the campfire as the flame died out.

"Who's staying behind to protect our stuff?" I asked them.

"I'll stay." Hoyt said to us.

"_No_." Michelle said to him angrily.

"You're fighting."

"That settles it. Have fun, Amir." I told him as I started jogging to the elevator with the rest of the team.

We made it to the elevator with the Captain and Monkey waited. We all stood still in the elevator as the doors closed. No one fixed their hair, no one pulled out a mirror.

"You people take too long to delegate." The Captain told us.

"I don't even care about that anymore." Michelle said as she stared at the closed elevator door as we moved upwards.

"Welcome, one and all to a very 'special' match! We're going to be seeing the Blue Team, fresh out of their latest victory fight to see if they can play with the Big Leagues!" Dodson said to the roaring crowd that got louder and louder as we ascended.

"Hello everybody! Bob and Dave here with a special Blue Team challenge against the White Team!" Bob spoke to the crowd.

"Why'd you say your name first?" Dave asked him.

"Because I wanted it there." Bob answered him.

"Well maybe I wanted _my_ name first."

"Well when you finally make a coherent sentence you can put your name in first!"

"Well it's too late to tell the crowd that now, isn't it, Bob?!"

"The object of Snatch-and-Grab is almost self-explanatory." Dodson told the crowd.

"The team who brings the bag back to their safe zone wins! But if both teams take too long to bring the bag back, it will explode a big, messy, red paint 'splosion!" Dodson laughed afterwards.

"That things a bomb, isn't it?" I asked the elevator as I looked at the screen showing the brown bag with a blinking red light.

"Probably." Jethro said.

"Now start fighting, I want to see someone get hurt!" Dodson hurried as the doors opened.

We rushed out onto the arena, running to the box of weapons next to a big blue circle with a flag resting there. I got to the box first, and opened it. The team then swarmed around the box. Taking the weapons and ammunition out of it.

"I found your shotguns, Jehtro!" Javier told him.

"Give 'em here, then!" Jethro responded.

Throughout the chaos, Hoyt and Michelle had to wait in the back for everyone to be done. They sighed, and looked around waiting to pass the time. I took a hunting rifle with a scope and a pistol from the box and loaded them both. I put the pistol in my pocket and loaded the bolt-action rifle.

"Did you get anything for us?" Michelle asked me.

"Sorry, no." I responded. I never thought of it, because no one ever did that for me.

"Aw, sweet! Look at this!" Javier smiled as he pulled out an orange and red laser rifle.

"This is totally mine." He said as he held it in his arms.

Everyone took their weapons that they wanted, and we all ran forward, leaving Hoyt and Michelle to get the final pickings. I looked across the arena, and spotted the white colored infantry heading towards the center of the arena, atop the hill where the bag sat.

"I'll go for it!" Jethro called out as he ran to the hill.

"I'll flank!" I called as I ran off to the left.

I looked through the scope of the rifle as I took myself to a perch in the settled snow. The White Team was camouflaged in the hill, and I couldn't find them as they trudged up the hill. I concentrated my aim and picked out a person who slipped on the snow and fell. I breathed in and fired a shot aimed at his chest. The bullet veered off to the side and missed my target. I exhaled and loaded the bolt-action with another round. I adjusted my aim and squeezed the trigger. I heard a distant gunshot and ducked in the snow. A bullet popped off of the snow to my side and I looked at my hunter. A flash of reflected light came from atop the opposite hill of the arena.

"Not this guy." I sighed as I prepared to face my old foe.

I stayed prone in the snow and held up my Pip-Boy and activated my Stealth Boy module. I saw my arms color turn white to match the snow; my body tingling as I actively changed color. I got up and started moving to the sniper's perch as the team battle atop of the hill. I looked to my right as I went past the White Team's elevator and saw red lasers setting people on fire. They rolled onto the snow to extinguish themselves and got back to fighting. The Captain and Monkey incapacitated those who got close the bag. Our team moved around quickly, dodging potshots from the enemy sniper up the hill from me. I crouched quietly up the hill, looking around for the sniper. I looked to the right, trying to spot the sniper shots, but none were fired. The sniper vanished.

"How the—"

A punch came out from nowhere as I looked to the hill; deactivating my camouflage and making me stumble back to face my attacker. It was the sniper, he came out of thin air it seemed, he knew I was coming. Another fist came at me and I grabbed it, moving it off to the side as I front kicked him in the stomach.

He grunted and exhaled a lot of visible air in the icy wind. A set out arms came out from behind me and grabbed my body. A man with a blonde mohawk and patchy beard grunted as he tried to hold me down in time for the sniper to get an attack in. I moved my legs backwards and jumped off the small hill. The man who grabbed me landed on his back, and coughed out as he struggled to breathe after the landing. He released his grip from me and I rolled off of him, slinging my rifle onto my back as I pulled out my pistol and aimed it at him. The sniper ran out from behind me and threw my arm up as I fired into the air. He then threw an elbow into my face with the arm that grabbed my pistol. I backed up and held my nose as the sniper disarmed me and threw my pistol to his partner as he got up from the ground slowly. The sniper threw a kick at me and I dodged to the side, grabbing his leg and pulling it behind me, making the sniper lose his balance and slip onto the ground. I got on top of him and pinned him down as I readied a punch. The sniper's partner tackled me off of him and we rolled further down the hill together. I grabbed his neck as we tumbled, and slammed him onto the snow as I grabbed my pistol from him and smacked his face with it. Stunned, I grabbed him and pulled him to his feet in front of me. I held my pistol to his head and stared at the sniper as he stopped dead in his tracks. We stopped moving and looked at each other as I held the blonde man up by the neck.

"You won't do it." My hostage choked out.

I smacked the side of his skull with my pistol and went back to aiming the barrel at his temple.

The battle raged on to our side as we waited it out silently.

"I bet it doesn't even have any rounds in it anymore." My hostage said.

I aimed it at the sniper's feet and fired a bullet into the snow in front of him. He stood still, not flinching from the shot, just staring at me with his white helmet and mask.

The sniper then made a slow movement, pulling out his rifle and dropping it on the ground in front of me. He went through his weapons and dropped his ammunition and sidearm. I searched my hostage and did the same. I slowly pulled the pistol down from his head, and then suddenly threw him onto the sniper, making them stumble back. I grabbed his sniper rifle and turned away from them as they both fell into the snow.

"White Team has finally went through the defensive wall of the Blue Team and got the bag with time to spare!" Bob announced.

I looked through the scope of the rifle and aimed down the hill, where the red glow came from the bag's bomb. I held my breath and got ready to take the shot. From my view within the scope, I saw a blue shirt run out and grab the bag from the White Team, and the two tackled each other.

"Hoyt, you idiot." I mumbled to myself as I waited for the perfect shot throughout all the clamoring between the two.

I was then thrown into the freezing snow, my new rifle thrown onto the snow next to me as I looked up at the sniper. He slammed my head into the snow multiple times, throwing off my hat and bandana, exposing my face the cold numbness of the ground. The sniper looked down and pulled out a knife and aimed it at me, striking down. Our eyes met and he grunted, but he stopped and breathed as he held the knife at me neck.

"A superb victory has been accomplished by the White Team! What a way to end the match!" Dave announced.

We looked off to the side, where the White Team has gathered to congratulate each other as they held the bag in the white painted zone. The sniper put away his knife and got off of me, walking away like nothing happened.

I rolled to my side and coughed as I looked for my hat and bandana. I shook the melting snow off of them and put them on as I got up. I cracked my neck and walked back to the elevator, throwing my weapons back near the box as the rest of the team walked in, bloody and bruised. I sighed and sat down against the elevator wall as we pressed the button.

"Bye, awesome rifle." Javier moped.

"I tried to get the bag; I didn't see any of you people trying to get it back from them." Hoyt blamed us.

"I had the shot." I told him from the ground.

"I had the shot…and you got in the way." I said to him, defeat in my voice.

The team looked at Hoyt, and Javier and Jethro made quiet remarks.

The Captain sweated in his glass helmet and breathed out heavily. Monkey sat sadly on his shoulder, showing the face that we all had on.

"I'm doing another match." He told us.

"We can't." Sandy told him.

"I'm doing it alone." He said as he left the elevator.

The guards aimed their weapons at us, as was the routine.

"Please relinquish all—"

The Captain and Monkey threw their weapons at them as they walked through them. They went past the camp, and headed to Mister Dodson's office.

"That guy's gonna kill that child eventually." Jethro told us as we stood still at the camp, watching. Sandy looked sadly at the Captain, and then down at the ground as we all walked to Amir's office for medical treatment.

The Captain and his small partner barely waded through the thinned nightly crowd until they reached the elevator.

"You again?" A guard asked.

"Take me to your leader." The Captain told them.

"That's even funnier the second time, spaceman." The guard said tiredly as he pressed the button on the elevator and opened it.

The Captain walked into the office, moving past a man with golden knuckles as he was on his way out. The man went with guards into the elevator and rode it down with them.

"I want another match." He told Dodson.

"Wow you two look like shit. Sure, that's cool, just hope your friends are okay with it." Mister Dodson said.

"No, it's just us fighting."

"There's nothing I would like more than to see you two homicidal bastards march out and hurt people who deserve it, but I have a heart." Mister Dodson said.

"Just say what you want to say, wench."

"I'm pretty sure that's an insult for women. I'm… I'm a guy."

"And as I was saying, that little one of yours looks tired or sick, are you sure she's ready for fighting?" Dodson asked them.

"I'm positive. She's been trained vigorously." The Captain said.

"I know, I've seen what you two have done on the outside, and frankly—"

The elevator doors opened behind them, and Sandy ran out.

"I'm fighting with them." Sandy said quickly to Dodson.

He looked at her for a moment in silence.

"Who are you again?" Dodson asked her.

"I'm Sandy. I was here for, like, my whole life." Sandy responded.

"You sure?" Dodson asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm pretty sure."

"Doesn't ring a bell. Anyways, good luck to you three! I'll see you at arena four!" Dodson smiled as sent them off.

"Why did you do that?" The Captain asked as they walked to the arena.

"Can't you see she's sick? She needs rest and without her you can't do anything in the arena." Sandy told him.

"She's not sick. I check her suit every night for breaches and tears. She has not been exposed to germs." He responded.

"Well if she's not sick, she's tired from riding around with you all day."

"An astro-soldier is never tired." Monkey said weakly.

"See?" The Captain asked Sandy, agreeing with the small child.

"She's a four year old girl." Sandy told him.

"In monkey years, that's—"

"Shut up about that. You need help."

"I'm not the one who needs help, it's you. Can't you dumb Earthlings see that I'm trying to help you?" The Captain asked her.

"I'm doing this or you, and you can either take it or reject it." The Captain said to her as they got in the elevator.

"Fine. You won't see me helping you in this match." Sandy pouted as she crossed her arms.

"Fine." The Captain and Monkey both said as the doors closed.

The television in the elevator turned on, "Just minutes after their latest dazzling defeat, we will see if three nobody's from the Blue Team can still muster a victory for the day against the recuperating Yellow Team!" Dodson exclaimed.

"We doubt it." Dave said.

"Why are you speaking for me?" Bob asked him.

"Because that's how you feel, isn't it?" Dave asked him.

"Well maybe I have a different opinion than you, Dave? Ever think of that?!" Bob yelled.

"Wow, okay. Let's explain the game, please for the love of God." Dodson instructed them.

"Do you want to say it for me, since you're apparently a mind reader?" Bob asked Dave.

"The object of the match is simple; eliminate the other team, but this one's got a different touch to it. Competitors will have to swim through a sea of their enemies and point out which one doesn't belong!" Dave explained.

"How are they going to do that?" Sandy asked as she watched the screen.

The camera panned over to the arena, where halls and corridors were lined like a maze with mirrors of different shapes and sizes.

"Just stay somewhere safe and you won't have to worry about it." The Captain told her as the doors opened.

They walked out to the weapon box and took out weapons.

"You don't need a weapon. You're not going to be hurting anyone." The Captain said as Sandy picked up a sledgehammer that was too big for her.

"Who said I was using this on people?" She asked as she slammed the hammer into the nearest mirror.

"That way we won't get lost." She smiled. The Captain smiled back as they walked through the maze. Everywhere they looked they ran into copies of themselves. The hall twisted and turned and became more narrow, Sandy bumped into mirrors laid out in the path and smashed them.

"Those mirrors were expensive guys." Dodson said sadly.

"You see anything?" Sandy asked.

"Is that an attempt at humor?" The Captain asked as he tapped on the reflection of Sandy, thinking it was the real thing.

"I guess not." She said.

"Where did you go?" The Captain asked her.

"I'm right here." She said as she waved at him.

The Captain walked up to her and ran himself into a mirror. He felt his hands on the mirror, and turned around to see more and more Sandy's looking at him.

"Where'd you go? This isn't you." She asked him as the Captain heard a tap on glass.

The Captain was surrounded by images of Sandy, and he started to breathe quickly.

"Where'd you go?" Sandy asked again.

The Captain whipped his head around to see where Sandy was, and he ran into another fake image of her. He breathed out fast and faster, exhaling heavily as he desperately tried to find her.

"Captain… status report?" Monkey asked as she yawned.

"I… I…" The Captain mumbled as he looked at images of the Yellow Team running through the mirrors.

"Wait… where…" The Captain breathed as the images of their enemies ran through the maze with swords and pistols.

"Hey, I think I heard something! Is that you?" Sandy asked, her voice echoing as she walked further away from them.

"Wait… no…" The Captain said in almost a whisper as he wanted to call out to her.

"Captain?" Monkey asked as she tapped his helmet.

He turned around quickly as footsteps lurked around him, tapping away at the ground as the images of the men and women ran about the mirrors.

Captain Cosmos was hyperventilating now, the hands that held his blaster shaking, and a cold sweat coming down off of his face as his knees grew weak. Monkey yawned as she rested her glass helmet against his, closing her eyes slowly as the Captain moved his head around in search of an escape.

His breaths turned into short, panicked screams as he had a panic attack. He turned around to the image of a Yellow Team member, staring at him through the mirror. He felt Monkey slide off his shoulder, asleep. He moved out and tried to catch, her but he only bumped her off his arms and sent her rolling softly onto the ground in front of him. He reached his arms out as he crouched out.

"Monkey—"

A swift sword cut sliced his entrance away as the Captain saw the steel come down on Monkey.

"NO! MONKEY!" The Captain yelled as Jinzu looked down at him.

Jinzu kicked the Captain down to the ground and held his sword up high bringing it down on the Captain.

He wiggled to the side and caught the edge of the sword as he moved out of the way. The Yellow Team emerged on them, slapping the Captain's blaster to the side against a mirror.

"NO! GET AWAY!" The Captain yelled as he reached out for Monkey, who stayed on the ground, motionless.

The Captain moved free from being pinned to the ground, and started crawling towards his blaster that was next to Monkey.

"She has a weapon!" One of the Yellow Team said as they kicked it away from Monkey.

The Captain shouted out a blood-curdling scream as Jinzu stabbed the blade into the Captain's leg as he reached to Monkey.

"Stop!" The Captain yelled as Jinzu held his leg down with his sword.

Jinzu laughed at him as he struggled to get to his blaster, his leg being held down by Jinzu's sword. The Captain yelled and grunted as he made a futile attempt at his weapon.

"Did _your_ team stop when we said we needed medicine?" Jinzu asked him. "Did _your_ team stop when we were poisoned and starving and needed a win? No! So why should I?"

Jinzu stabbed the Captain in the leg deeper, making him cry out in pain as he fell dropped his arm away from his blaster and held his leg in pain as the veins in his neck popped out.

"We are no longer weak, Blue Team! We are coming after you!" Jinzu yelled at the Captain.

He looked up at Jinzu, grinding his teeth, begging for release with his eyes.

Jinzu stopped smiling when he heard a yell come from his side. A slow hammer swung against his head, sending him flying back into the ground, and his sword down into the air above him. Jinzu cried out as the sword pierced straight to the ground.

"IT HAPPENED! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! DEATH BY SWORD!" Mister Dodson cried out in excitement.

Jinzu rolled to the side, the sword ripping off his sleeve as he held his bloody face.

"Aw, c'mon, what the shit was that?!" Dodson yelled.

The other two members of the Yellow Team ran at Sandy as she lifted the sledgehammer back and swung it forward. One unfortunate person of the Yellow Team was hit with it and slammed into a mirror, cracking it with his back as he fell to the ground. The other person, however, took advantage of Sandy's slow attack and threw the hammer off to the side as she tried to hit him with it. He grabbed her by the neck and threw her into a mirror as he choked her. Sandy's face turned red as she struggled to breathe in, the man attacking her looking relentless and showing no sign of stopping. She struggled to find broken glass to grab, but there was nothing there, and she only kicked weakly around as she tried to get free of his grip.

A short laser blast hit the man from behind, and he released his grip, stepping back like a zombie and staying perfectly still while the Captain aimed his blaster at him, ready for another shot. Sandy threw the man into another mirror, lifted up the sledgehammer and swung it into his stomach, pinning the man against the hammer and glass as blood came down from his mouth.

The Captain was horrified, and dropped his blaster on the ground as he dragged his bloody leg over to Monkey, and lifted her up.

"Ew… Blue Team won… obviously." Dodson said disgustedly as the crowd cheered.

"Is she okay?" The Captain asked as he lifted her up.

"She's fine. Just passed out." Sandy told him as she dropped the bloody sledgehammer on the ground.

"What a horrific win by the newly recruited 'STARr' with a lowercase second 'r', and…" Bob held the paper to his eyes to read the next name more clearly. "Captain… Cocknose…am I reading that right?" Bob announced.

"I'm not new… I've been here for years!" Sandy yelled up at the announcers.

"How are you feeling?" Sandy asked as she lifted Monkey up and cradled her.

"I've been breached… I've been contaminated…" The Captain gasped as he held his bleeding leg.

"We'll get you fixed up. Can you walk?" Sandy asked him.

"Don't you realize what this means for me? I'll become one of you aliens now! I'll get all your diseases, and—"

"Be quiet. She's sleeping, let's go." Sandy said quietly.

The Captain used Sandy's sledgehammer to get himself up, and limped to the box to throw their weapons away.

"I'm becoming a murderer just like you. Soon I'll be murdering innocent lives like you did today." The Captain said as he waited in the elevator.

"This isn't a place where you get judged for being good or evil. We're all here because someone already decided that for us. Sooner or later, you're going to have to do what I did today. If not… you might not be able to save her." Sandy told him as she looked down at Monkey as she slept in her arms.

"You're wrong. This is just a test to see if I would become a savage or not, and I tell you now, _I will_ hold strong, and I _will_ win." The Captain told her.

"But what if you don't?"

"Then I don't deserve to save this planet."


	71. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71: Noble**

"I'll put her to bed; you go to Amir and get a bandage on that thing." Sandy told him as they left the elevator. The Captain limped next to her as they walked into camp.

"Jesus Christ…" I said as I looked up at them.

"What the hell happened?" Amir asked them as the team swarmed around Monkey.

"She just tired, that's all." Sandy said as she rocked her.

"You people must be the two dumbest people on the team!" Michelle yelled.

"You really think Cassidy and Randy's lives are worth hurting a small childs'?!" Michelle scolded.

"Yes. I do." Sandy said as she glared at Michelle and walked to the Captain's tent to put Monkey asleep. I looked at Michelle, and she looked at me.

"Doctor. To the infirmary." The Captain ordered Amir as he tried to stand on his leg.

"Alright." Amir exhaled as they went into his office.

"Come with me." Michelle told me as we went to her sleeping quarters.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"It's been a while since… you know…" She whispered.

"Don't you think I would have started to show it by now?" She asked.

"It hasn't been that long, Michelle. Everything's alright, the baby's probably fine." I told her quietly.

"What if it isn't?"

"It is." I told her as I held her hand down.

Michelle breathed out and looked at the exit to her home.

"Should I tell the rest of them?" She asked me.

"That's up to you, Michelle."

"Well Hoyt says not to, but It's just—we've just been waiting so long and—"

"It's okay, if you want my opinion, I say wait until this whole Sandy business has ended."

"Okay." Michelle said as I walked away past Hoyt.

"What was that about?" Hoyt asked her.

"Nothing." Michelle told him.

"Don't lie to me, Michelle." Hoyt threatened as he walked closer to Michelle.

"What did you say to her?" He asked angrily.

I walked outside and got ready to go to bed. I looked to the side where the fire was burning bright and was relieved that I didn't have to build the fire up. I already ate, and was ready to sleep off my bruises and scrapes. Jethro lay on his perch, tantalizing Javier with one of his chems as he taunted him from above. Sandy knelt next to Monkey as she slept and watched over her until the Captain left the infirmary. Behind me, Michelle and Hoyt's tent flap opened, and Hoyt darted towards me.

"You think you can take advantage of our secrets?!" Hoyt yelled.

"What?" I asked as the team stopped what they were doing and looked over at us.

"What are you gonna do, huh? Tell everyone in the arena about her just to paint a big target over her head?!" Hoyt yelled as he pushed.

"What the hell's your problem, Hoyt?" I asked him as the team stood up and walked closer.

"You think you can just sneak in here and take us out, one-by-one?!" Hoyt yelled as he grabbed me by my shoulders.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Hoyt!" I yelled back.

"Hoyt, calm down, you're still on painkillers." Amir warned him.

"That doesn't mean shit! I'm doing you guys a favor, starting with her!" Hoyt yelled as he threw me into a wall.

The team surrounded Hoyt and grabbed him as he tried to attack me further. Jethro tugged on him until he grew tired and fell to his knees.

"Can't you see I'm trying to help you dumbasses?!" Hoyt shouted from the ground.

"Sarah was right about you, man. You're losin' it." Jethro told him as he looked down at him.

The team looked at him as he kept trying to run at me, yelling, and grunting as bystanders looked at the exchange.

"Blue Team, come on down for your reward! I need all of you beautiful people in my office for a celebration!" Dodson announced to us.

I stood against the wall, and looked up at the team as they looked at each other. We all then looked at Hoyt as he knelt on the ground. Jethro knelt down to him to speak.

"Are you cool now?" Jethro asked him.

Hoyt breathed heavily and angrily. "Yes." He mustered up.

Jethro let go of him, and left him on the ground as we walked past him. The Captain walked out of the infirmary with a bandage tied around his leg. He walked to Sandy, and looked down at Monkey as she slept.

"Should we leave her here?" The Captain asked.

"No." Sandy said as she gently picked her up and carried her.

"When did those two become friends?" Javier asked us as we walked to the elevator.

"What's the matter? Jealous?" Jethro asked him.

"No." Javier responded as we went through what was left of the crowd near the Great Arena. I checked my Pip-Boy, it was an hour past midnight.

"Does this guy ever sleep?" I asked.

"Yeah, probably on a mattress made of naked women." Javier responded.

"Or something softer, I guess." He added.

"Classy." I noted.

We went into the elevator, surround by four guards in all corners of it. The doors opened, and we were led to the dining area, where Dodson sat at the end of the table.

"Hi, guys! Hungry?" He asked as he held up a plate of food.

"We're just here to get the rew—"

"Yes!" Javier responded as he grabbed the plate and started to eat.

"What was that, Miss Marston?" Dodson asked me.

"We're here to get our friends back, that's it." I told him.

"Alright, seems fair." Dodson nodded as he ate his food.

"But as an entertainment of the pure people of the world, my reputation is based off of making things interesting." He said with a mouth full of food.

"So let's get right on that." He said as he swallowed his food and patted his mouth with a napkin.

The ceiling broke off and chains pulled down, dropping two bodies, suspended a few feet above the table by ropes tied around their necks.

"Oh my God!" Sandy yelled as she looked at Sandy and Randy as they were choked out in front of us.

"You only have time to save one it seems, get on it." Dodson said as he finished his food.

We ran at the table at once to their aid.

"No!" Dodson yelled.

"Only _he_ can do it." Dodson said as he pointed to the Captain with his cane.

The guards aimed their weapons at us, and kept us still as the Captain jumped atop the table, and looked at their choking faces.

"Do something, please!" Sandy begged as their faces became red and swung around in the air.

The Captain looked at their faces, not knowing what to do as the two were being lynched next to him.

"Save one already!" Javier yelled at him.

Dodson pulled out a fork and knife and cut his steak, putting the slice in his mouth and chewing on it.

"Steak sauce!" He called out to his servants.

"Too dry today." He shook his head as he took a sip of Nuka-Cola.

The Captain breathed quickly as he looked at Sandy. Tears ran down her eyes as she held onto Monkey, still tired and silent since she fell asleep.

The Captain looked down at the table and picked up a steak knife and cut one of the ropes, releasing Randy onto the table, choking and drooling as he took his air roughly.

"I guess the term, 'Best-Friends-Forever' doesn't mean much to you, Captain." Dodson said nonchalantly as the team looked up at Cassidy as she hung motionless from the rope.

"Wonder how whats-her-face is going to take that choice." Dodson said as he poured steak sauce on his food.

"But I _am_ an entertainer…" Dodson said as he flipped his steak knife around and threw it at Cassidy's rope, severing it and slamming her onto the table as she lay motionless on the dining table.

"And that means I have to be a crowd pleaser." He said as he took another sip of cola and took his napkin off of his lap and set it gently on the table.

Randy fell off the table as he coughed and spit up on the floor.

"You people ruined my appetite." Dodson shook his head as The Captain looked at Cassidy's body.

"She's not breathing!" I yelled.

"Not my fault Captain Patience took five years to make a choice." Dodson said as the Captain performed CPR on Cassidy, breathing heavily while he did it.

"You… you son-of-a-bitch…" Randy coughed weakly as he got up and threw a lazy punch at Dodson, one the man in the orange suit dodged easily, making Randy fall back onto the ground.

"Nice one." Mister Dodson said sarcastically as he brushed off his suit. "I can tell where your team gets the brawn from."

Cassidy gasped for air as the Captain pressed down on her chest. He held her head up as her face got color back.

Mister Dodson walked past us, the guards tensing up and aiming their weapons closer to us.

"I forgot to tell you guys, Happy New Year!" He congratulated us as he walked out through a different door and closed it behind him.

"That guy's so cool." Javier said in awe as we all looked toward the door.


	72. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72: Noob**

"Have some water, guys." Amir told Randy and Cassidy as he gave them two bottles.

"Thank you." Cassidy said hoarsely as they both took the bottles and drank from them.

"Drink it slow." Amir warned them.

"So how was it?" I asked them.

"As you guys all saw, it wasn't the best of times." Randy responded.

"Yeah, you guys have bruises all over you; do you need any medical help?" Amir asked them.

"No, they're just bruises. He kept us weak so we wouldn't try to escape." Cassidy told us.

"Don't you guys see, now? We've got to get Dodson, he's going to kill us all if we don't get out of here." I told them.

"I agree. I want that asshole to pay for what he did to us." Randy agreed.

"Whoa, not so fast. Dodson may not seem like the nicest guy, but think of all the things he's done to help us." Jethro told us.

"He's right, he got me a cast for my leg, and I really needed that." Hoyt said.

"For only a couple weeks." Michelle said under her breathe.

"Yeah, and he's kept us fed and gave us shelter from whatever the hell's outside of us. He didn't have to, but he saved Cassidy too because we needed her. That counts for something." Jethro told us.

"Well what's to say we just overthrow him and keep the place running ourselves?" I asked.

"He obviously knows how to run this place well, he's been doing it for our entire lives. He protects us and roots out the people who don't deserve it."

"Like Skyler and Shane?" Sandy asked him.

"It's a harsh system; he can't hold the growing population here for eternity. I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to risk my life to hurt the guy who saved ours." Jethro said as he got up to his perch.

"What the hell's the matter with you, Jethro? He couldn't have killed me, how are you agreeing with him?" Randy asked.

"I'm sorry, but we gotta look at the big picture."

Randy shook his head at him.

"Well, we're doing anything about it tonight. I'm going to bed." I told them as I walked to my tent.

The team dispersed their separate ways for the night and got ready to go to sleep. Sandy walked over to the Captain's tent, where he watched Monkey sleep.

"How are you?" She asked him.

"Contaminated." Captain Cosmos responded as he looked at his leg.

Sandy ran into him and hugged him before he knew what was going on.

"Thank you again." She told him quietly as she held onto him.

The Captain looked down at her, and patted her head confusingly.

"You're showing signs of sleep deprivation. Handle that." The Captain said to her.

"The guards walked to our camp, and the two looked at them.

"Level-Up for Captain Cocknose." The guard announced.

The Captain sighed and got up.

"What do you require from me?" He asked them.

The guard opened up the suitcase, revealing a blue latex suit and black rubber boots. The Captain stared at them in awe as he held them up.

"Good thing you're contaminated, now you can put that on." Sandy told him.

"Good night." Sandy told him as she ran over to Cassidy and hugged her.

"How'd you even survive this whole time without me?" Cassidy asked her friend.

"I had help." Sandy smiled.

Randy limped over to the Captain as he laid out his new suit. Randy coughed gently and held onto his ribs as he walked over to him.

"Hey…" Randy said to Captain Cosmos. The Captain turned around, his face unsure how to act around him.

"I… uh, heard how you took care of my sister while I was away, and…"

"We're alright." Randy said apologetically as he held out his hand.

The Captain had no knowledge of how to handle this, so he grabbed onto Randy's hand and looked at him.

"And thanks for picking me first. I know it was a hard choice, and I know you decided for the sake of Sandy." Randy told him as they shook hands.

"Just between you and me, I think she likes you." Randy whispered as he walked away to his tent.

The Captain looked at Randy walk away, and then over to Sandy as she talked to her friend again. He smiled and lay down in his tent next to Monkey, taking a deep breath and sleeping. Hoyt left his home angrily, holding a tent in his hands. He set it down gently next to the Captain's and unfolded it. He then went inside to sleep.


	73. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73: Only God Can Genocide**

"Oh God…" Joe said to himself as he sat in the annex by himself.

"Carrie… what am I gonna do?" He asked himself, holding his face in his hands.

He heard taps in the wall, and walked over to the hidden door, opening it to Lennie.

"Where have you been these past few days?" Joe asked him as he sat back on the couch.

"Just thinking." Lennie responded as he took a can of beer and opened it.

"Where'd you get those?" Joe asked, pointing at his Gold Knuckles.

"I won some matches, its part of my theme." Lennie answered as he sipped the drink on the chair next to him.

"What have you been doing in here?" Lennie asked him.

"Thinking."

"About what?"

"Leaving."

"Without Ulysses?"

"It's been months since we've seen him, if he was out there, he would have found us by now. I say we just take our chances and leave while we still can." Joe told him.

"I don't think that's what Jesus would've done." Lennie teased.

"I'm sure he would understand." Joe responded.

"You know you're a real buzzkill when you talk like that." Lennie told him.

"I think you of all people would understand why I feel this way. We almost died at least fourteen times already, or did you forget how we met you? If the universe wanted us dead, it would have happened a long time ago, before Sarah and I even met you guys." Joe explained.

"Maybe you're just lucky."

Joe smiled. "No… no, luck wants nothing to do with me."

"Alright, I'll humor you for a second. Let's say you're blessed, what are you doing _here_ then?" Lennie asked.

"I'm here because I was given the chance to redeem myself for all the mistakes I made, all the innocent people I hurt. Getting out of here will show that I'm forgiven."

"We're all here for our own reasons; the only difference with me is that I know what my reason is." Joe told him.

"You sound like 'The Prophet' all right." Lennie sighed as he took a sip of his beer.

"Hey Black Team! Guess what? You're fighting people today! Arena two!" Dodson's voice echoed on the speakers outside the annex.

"Guess that's me." Joe said as he stood up from his couch.

"Good luck." Lennie told as Joe got up.

"I don't think you paid attention to our last conversation." Joe said as he left the annex.

He walked by his team's camp, and looked around. Moans came from their tents as people coughed and spoke weakly to one another.

"Everyone get up, we have a match." Joe told them.

"Wh…What?" Someone asked weakly.

"We have to fight. Just one match and we'll get our supplies." Joe announced to the team.

"I'm so cold… I can't move." Danny told him as he held onto his bandaged stomach.

"Yes you can, Danny. You just have to try." Joe told him.

"I'm not ready to be taken. Be gentle…" Danny whispered.

"Uh… ew." Joe raised an eyebrow.

"Listen guys, you trained yourself for this your entire lives, you all survived and now you have the chance to continue that experience. We can get through this; I promise I'll save you, just do this for me, guys." Joe told them.

Danny grunted as he lifted himself off of the couch, and onto the floor.

"What is the arena?" He asked.

"Two."

"Number two smells like shit." Danny told him as he limped away.

"I can't tell if you were making a joke or just talking normally." Joe said.

The rest of the team pulled them together and shambled to the elevator with Joe as Dodson gave a rundown on the screen.

"How did I get here?" Someone asked.

"I need to sleep. Please. It… hurts." Someone moaned.

"You all can rest in here, just have someone move at some point." Joe told them.

"I call this the 'Gun' Game'. The two teams will have to battle to the center of the arena to get the golden pistol, the only gun that can be used. Players will have to use their wits and any melee weapons they find to get the golden gun and use it to win the game! Isn't that fun?" Dodson asked as the elevator doors opened.

Joe alone walked out as the team sat in the elevator, breathing and wheezing as they saw him venture to the weapon box, Joe pried it open, and stared down at it with his jaw open. He pulled out an embroidered golden cross with diamonds around it. Golden necklaces with small crucified men at the ends of them were all over the top of the cross. Joe held it up in the air as he looked at it. The bottom part of the cross was a sharpened blade pointing down to the ground. Joe held the top of the cross, and pointed the sword forward as he ran into battle.

He flanked to the right, through a hallway created through a dirt hill. It looked old, and water leaked through the metal walls. Joe looked out the exit, and spotted the Purple Team running to the center of the arena. Joe stopped running, and breathed heavily as he looked down at the ground. He then slumped over against the metal wall as he held onto the cross.

"Please, God. Please, I don't want to die. I just want to save my daughter. I'm sorry." He whispered to himself, holding his head anxiously.

"I just want to help my daughter. I want to see her one last time. Please." He prayed.

"So, how do you think the newly retrofitted Purple Team is going to fare today, Bob?" Dave asked.

"Well it's six on one, so it seems like the odds are against the Black Team." Bob answered.

Joe ran out of the hallways towards the gun that sat on a pedestal under a large beam of light. A man in black armor and a purple sash over it held his hand out to grab the pistol. Joe swung his sword up at the man, severing his fingers as he cried out in pain. The team was horrified, and ran at Joe with lead pipes and metal poles. Joe plunged the sword down into the man's thigh, and the beam of light shining on the golden gun reflected off the golden cross with a bright light. Joe pulled it out of the man as he screamed in pain. Joe stood still as the team ran over to him, all of which wanting vengeance.

"You fool… you will suffer my wrath by the time your life is through." Augustus said on the ground.

"I don't care." Joe told him quietly as he waited for the men and women to arrive.

A woman with purple armor ran at him and swung a pipe at his head. Joe ducked and stabbed the sword through her stomach. He held onto her shoulder and pushed her body off of the cross, jingling the many chains around it as blood popped through her newly created orifice. A man swung a rebar club down at Joe, and he stepped back, parrying the club with his sword and swinging around, hocking off his shoulder with a clean cut across his chest. Another man jumped off a hill to his right, a dagger held in the attacker's hand as he soared down at Joe. Joe looked at him and raised his sword into the air, impaling the man in the stomach as he dropped his dagger. Joe yelled as he threw the body off of his sword, sending the man flopping onto the ground in front of him. A girl gave out a battle cry as she ran at Joe with a short sword, hitting Joe's blade away from her. Joe held out his left fist as his right arm was forced into the ground and hooked her across her face, breaking off her attack as Joe swept the sword under her legs, chopping off skin and making the woman crashing into the ground with her weapon.

Joe walked forwards away from the golden gun, staring down at the last member of the Purple Team as he cowered on the ground. Groveling at Joe's feet as he sobbed and begged for him to go away.

"Please… please…" He begged.

"He finally answered me." Joe told him with a smile as he took the sword and stabbed it down the man's chest as he stared into his eyes.

"Bl…" Bob choked on his words as he stared through the screen.

"Black—Black Team wins." Bob said quickly as Joe wiped the blade against the dirt to get the blood off.

"Doctors are gonna have trouble patching that up." Dave gulped.

"And remember to watch the veteran reward ceremony where I appoint the greatest fighters of the month!" Dodson smiled.

Joe walked slowly, stepping gently over the dying bodies of the Purple Team, as Augustus tried to grab the Golden gun with his bleeding, stubby fingers. Joe nudged his face off of the pedestal with his foot, grabbing the golden pistol as he did so. He held it up in his hands as he sheathed his sword as Augustus flopped over in defeat. The decorations matched his cross—they were meant to go together it seemed. Joe took out the bedazzled clip and checked the rounds left in it. He then popped the clip back in and cocked the gun, taking it with him as Fernando Augustus looked at him. He heard the elevator behind him open as the arena grew quiet from the audience leaving. Joe turned around to see the team of hazmats taking the bodies. One stepped out from the crowd and faced Joe. He stopped moving, staring back at the person with the gun in his hands.

"You're not infected." The woman told Joe.

"I know." He answered as he turned around and walked to the elevator.

Danny looked weakly up at him, a smile popping out.

"You did it, man… you d—"

Joe sent a round into his head, echoing the elevator. He then went down the line of his team, executing them with the pistol until they all fell over in their blood. Joe tossed the pistol off to the side and pressed the elevator's button, closing the doors as Joe waited inside with the bodies. He stared at the woman in the hazmat suit, and waved goodbye to her.

The doors opened up against to the guards aiming their weapons at Joe.

"Relinquish your—"

They stopped speaking and stared in horror at the bodies, gasping and mumbling as they looked up at Joe.

He handed them his weapons and walked away to the annex.

"How was it?" Lennie asked as Joe sat down on the couch.

"It went well."


	74. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74: Legacy**

The next weeks for me were slow; we kept to the regimen of exercise and slowed down our eating now that we had two extra people again. Sandy returned to speaking to her best friend while Jethro and Randy stayed awkwardly away from each other, passively arguing over the Dodson situation. Amir took care of Captain Cosmos' bandages until his stab wound healed. The Captain had new confidence with his sparkling new suit and people who believed in him. It was different for others, however. Every night Hoyt argued with Michelle, their yells echoing to the team as they tried to go to sleep. Hoyt was reduced to sleeping with everyone else in a tent while Michelle kept sleeping in her larger home. It seemed hard for him, being insulted by the other players and pranked on almost daily. We left Michelle alone, maybe because she was starting to understand our views or maybe because we had a new person to hate. Whenever I got bored, I poked my right arm, which hasn't had feeling in it since it healed. I used it to my advantage in the fights that we participated in, using it to block attacks and send people downward with a punch.

The team was back together for what it was worth, we no longer became sick to our stomachs when matches were called for us, we took the challenge with a smile, and our latest match was a cakewalk for us.

"Marston, cover me!" Michelle yelled in the battle as we took cover behind a metal wall.

I popped out of cover with my rifle, and picked off rounds as Michelle ran ahead through the barrage of guns. One of my rounds hit, and sent a Green Team member down into the ground. I had to focus during this match, I was watching out for Lennie. The rest of the team was flanking through the corridors of the arena, which was a metal labyrinth with large iron doors everywhere.

I loaded another shot into my rifle and looked up as a fist went flying into my face. I couldn't take the punch; I felt my jaw as blood came out from my lips. I fell onto the ground and felt my face as my attacker kicked me in the stomach, and then punched it. I had the wind knocked out of me. I tried to breathe and looked at my enemy.

"Oh no…" Lennie said as he apologetically looked down at me.

"I'm sorry, Sarah, I didn't know it was you." He told me as I coughed.

"It's fine, just go." I coughed out as I felt my face.

"Miss Marston was taken down by the Bruiser! Couldn't hide from that one, could you?" Bob taunted as I felt my face on the ground in defeat.

"No she couldn't." Dave announced.

"It was a rhetorical question, Dave. C'mon…"

Michelle came running at him her shotgun held towards his throat. Lennie threw it to the side and head butted her. He held a fist and sent it into her stomach, making Michelle cough and arch her back.

"No!" I yelled at him as he readied another punch aimed at her belly.

I held back his fist and Lennie looked at me with his eyebrow raised. He held up his opposite hand with his brass knuckles and punched me in my already bleeding face, making me fall down with the imprint of his fist on my head.

Michelle fell over, holding her stomach in pain. Lennie walked past us and started moving to his team that were intercepted by the Blue Team at the end of the hall. Hoyt opened the iron doors and looked at us on the ground as Lennie walked past him. He stared at Michelle as she vomited blood onto the floor, tears streaming down her face. He then looked at Lennie, his face twisting into morose and sinister expression.

"You rotten piece of shit!" He yelled as he ran at him.

The two fell onto the floor, exchanging punches as Hoyt pinned him down as punched Lennie's head over and over.

"Do you know what you just did?! DO YOU?!" Hoyt shouted at Lennie as blood streamed off of his fists as he punched him.

"Hoyt, stop! He didn't know!" I warned him, trying to save my friend.

The team ran down the hall as fast as they could after they finished their battle. They surrounded Hoyt as he punched Lennie's swollen face again and again.

"YOU KILLED IT! YOU KILLED MY CHILD!" Hoyt shouted as he lost his voice.

"Oh my God…" Sandy gasped as her brother covered her eyes.

"Go back to the elevator, Monkey." The Captain told her as he set her down on the ground.

"The mission is not yet over, Cappy—"

"_Just go to the elevator_." The Captain ordered her as she trotted away, not understanding anything.

"Hoyt!" I yelled as the blood covered my eyes. I was too weak to stop it from happening. Lennie's arms dropped to the floor long ago, whether from giving up or from being knocked out.

Jethro walked over to Hoyt and pulled him back from Lennie's limp body as the team watched Hoyt crack.

"Well, it looks like Scarface took his revenge against his most hated color!" Dodson announced our victory.

I fell over on my back, my left eye swollen shut and my right just about to close up. I got to my feet and fell back against the wall as Randy picked up Michelle gently. Hoyt shouted at Lennie as Jethro pulled him back. The team that was once together discovered the secrets that kept us apart at that moment. Hoyt yelled hysterically, punching the metal walls as he flailed his head around wildly. Randy held up Michelle and carried her away. It was just me now, sitting at the end of the hall with Lennie. He mumbled to himself as he shook his head. He was bleeding all over and shook like he was put into a blizzard. I crouched down to him and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. I grabbed his arm and he winced in pain.

"It's okay. I got you." I told him as I lifted him up and carried him to the elevator.

I dragged Lennie to the elevator. I knew I couldn't leave him there, not with the stories I've heard. Hoyt looked up at us angrily.

"What the hell are you doing with him? HAVE YOU NOT PAID ATTENTION TO WHAT HAPPENED?!" Hoyt yelled.

"It's okay, Hoyt. I'm fine." Michelle told him.

"If you let him come with us, all the respect I have left of you means _nothing_!" Hoyt threatened.

"I have my reasons." Was the only thing I told them.

I didn't say anything to my team after. I just pushed the button with my free hand and closed the door.

"Hey… hey, Sarah…" Lennie mumbled to me. "It's just like old times, huh?"

"No… it's not, Lennie." I told him quietly.

We gave our weapons to the guards and walked back to camp. Captain Cosmos patted Monkey on the back as he lifted her to his shoulder, looking sadly at Randy held Michelle. Sandy held onto the Captain as he patted her back, looking at her as we went into Amir's office.

"I'm not treating him, Sarah." Amir told me as I held onto Lennie.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Do you really want the answer to that? We'll deal with you later." He said as he gave Michelle medicine.

She sobbed on the cot, tears falling off of her and running into the blood around her mouth.

"I killed it… I killed my baby…" She sobbed.

"No you didn't. It's okay." I told her.

"I need everyone out while I work. That means him, too." Amir told us as he looked at Lennie.

I took Lennie outside as everyone stared at me. Hoyt took a walk through the crowd and Jethro watched over him.

"Why did you take him with us? We could have been done with that entire team." Javier asked.

"I'll talk to everyone about this later. I just need to help him first." I said.

"Well you're not getting it from me." He said as he walked away.

Everyone followed after him, leaving me with Lennie as he mumbled nothingness to himself.

"Goddammit." I sighed as I looked around for help to Lennie as he shivered painfully.

"Damn you, Nathan… you fat bitch…" He mumbled.

"Alright. We're gonna get you patched up, okay?" I asked him as I took him into the crowd.

"Why… why didn't we eat him? Wasn't that the whole point?" He asked in a mumble.

"Need to find Joe, where?" I asked as I took him through the crowds of pushing people.

"What ever happened to Marge? Wasn't…" Lennie drifted off for a moment. "Wasn't that a big deal at some point?"

I walked to the familiar wall and started tapping wildly around it as Lennie started to drop.

"Lennie… Lennie wake up, you need to stay awake. C'mon." I said to him as I slapped the wall angrily.

"Why did Rilee have to die?" He asked me weakly.

"That wasn't cool…" He said, coughing out blood.

"Oh no." I said as I wiped his mouth with my sleeve.

"I really liked her, Sarah." Lennie whispered.

Lennie shouted out and held onto his face, making me drop him onto the ground.

"It hurts… it hurts…I-I can't move" Lennie sobbed.

"Lennie, get up, we're almost there." I told him.

"I can't…" He moaned quietly.

"The only girl who liked me is dead and now I'm stuck with a zombie wife without a face." Lennie told me.

"Just leave me here… please… I don't wanna get up…" Lennie begged.

I got up from him and looked around the walls, tapping all the brick as much as I could until I heard hollowness from the other side. I tapped it again and again. I got no response.

"C'mon, Joe… where are you?" I asked as I tapped the wall as fast as I could.

The hidden door slowly opened to Joe.

"Sarah? What is it?"

"It's Lennie." I told him as I tugged on the tiny strands of hair that grew in over the past few weeks.

He ran out with me to the spot I left him in, where blood trickled down off of his face.

"What happened?" He asked me.

"I went against his team today, and—"

"Oh god…" Joe said as he looked at his swollen face.

"We need to help him, Joe. He's not going to make it."

"I don't have anyone to help him, I lost my entire team!" Joe yelled.

"Ow… ah…" Lennie choked out.

"Do you have stimpaks you or your team had?" I asked him.

"They used all of them after they lost, I don't have anything, Sarah!"

"What do we do?" I asked him.

We looked at Lennie's face, distorted, blood-swelling and otherwise unrecognizable to us as his former self. He was a mangled man, nothing left in him except a working set of lungs that breathed out spotty exhales.

"You know that already." Joe said as he looked at Lennie as he breathed painfully.

"We can't just leave him like this, Joe! Jesus!" I yelled as I turned away from him.

"We don't have any other choice." He told me.

"It's okay… it's okay…" He mumbled.

"This is what he wants, Sarah." Joe told me.

"I'm sorry, kid… I am." Joe told him.

Lennie was too weak to respond to him. He stopped moving as we stood up and looked down at him. My eyes burned out tears as Joe walked me away from him.

"Let's just go back to your team and tell them everything." Joe said as he walked closed the annex door and walked away.

Lennie's body sat still on the ground, alone. From his failing hearing, he could make out thumps of feet coming toward him. Two people went up to him and grabbed his head and legs and picked him up. He cried out in pain from the touch, and the two people took him away.

Red-eyed, I returned to the camp, all eyes on us.

"Now who's this?" Jethro asked.

"I think you may have already met me at some point." Joe told them.

"Is that the guy who you beat up in the BTB?" Javier asked me.

"Uh… about that." I said as I composed myself.

"I haven't been honest with you guys, and by now you deserve better. I hope I can put to rest the rumors about me after Michelle gets out of Amir's office." I told them.

"It's gonna take a while, he said." Sandy told me as she sat next to Randy.

"Well, we have enough time to spare, so I'll just get to talking, then." I told them

"Obviously, I didn't beat him in the BTB." I announced.

"No shit." Randy told me.

"We've also known each other for a long time, before we even got here."

"So you're a spy?" Javier asked.

"No. We were just taken by Dodson and put on different teams. Same with… the guy you saw."

"You're not working with Dodson?" Sandy asked.

"No, we just said that we're not." Joe told her.

"Is she… like…?" Joe questioned me silently.

"We just ignore some of them." I answered.

"Look, we'll talk to all of us when the team's back together, alright?" Randy proposed.

"Yeah. Okay," I said.

We waited hours around camp, pacing around and speaking quietly to ourselves as we waited for Michelle to come out of the office. We waited until the morning became night. Joe talked with me whenever I needed someone. Jethro and Hoyt returned to the camp and waited with us. We got the fire started when a group of guards came to our camp. We got up and looked at them.

"Miss Marston?" A guard asked.

"That's me." I said.

"Congratulations, you are now eligible for a veteran rank up. Your match is set for a week from today." The guard told me.

"What match?" I asked the team.

"It's a match against another person who is also about to become a veteran. You can have the other veterans on our team to coach you through the battle, but they can't help you fight it. Whoever wins becomes a veteran." Randy informed me.

"Great. Another thing I have to worry about." I said to myself.

The office doors opened, and the team looked at Amir as he exited, blood all over his outfit and gloves.

"Michelle's fine, but…" Amir didn't want to continue. He held his head down and shook it at us. We looked over at Hoyt as he sat next to Jethro. He looked up at the steam clouds high above us and smiled blankly.

"I gave him what he wanted." Jethro told us.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked him.

"You got him high after his girlfriend went through this?"

"She's not his girlfriend anymore. He told me right before I gave him the chems. I thought it would help."

"He's 102 pounds and hasn't eaten all day, how would that help him?" Amir asked.

"Don't blame me, he's the adult who made the choice." Jethro argued.

"Jesus this team…" Joe shook his head.

"Who's this?" Amir asked.

"We'll talk about it later. How's Michelle?" I asked him.

"She's on medication, but she should be up and about tomorrow." Amir told us.

"We should all get some rest." Amir advised us.

"Alright." I said as I took my hat off and rolled up my bloody sleeves.

"Meet me in the annex first thing tomorrow morning. I have some information for you all." Joe told us as he walked away.

I went into my bedroll and fell asleep quickly from stress mixed with exhaustion. The Captain talked with Randy for a moment at his tent, and put Monkey on the ground.

"I want you awake in eight hours exactly." Captain Cosmos said to his partner.

"Aye, Cappy!" Monkey agreed as she went to sleep.

"You don't even know how long an hour is." The Captain mumbled to himself as he shook his head. Hoyt stumbled into his tent next to the Captain, and looked up and at Monkey as she slept.

"The same thing's gonna happen to you." Hoyt said as he stared up at nothing.

"Repeat that?" The Captain asked him, being ever so cautious.

"Didn'tcha' hear me?" Hoyt asked with glassy eyes.

"You think what happened to my kid won't happen to yours?" Hoyt asked him.

"She is not my child, and she has several months of training, so excuse me for pointing out the difference between you and I." The Captain told Hoyt.

"No we're not. We're the same person. You're gonna lose her, just like me." Hoyt said as he laid down in his bedroll.

"I am not going to pester myself with remedial conversations. I know where I stand and I am confident with all of my soldiers." The Captain told Hoyt.

"And off the record…" The Captain started.

"Don't ever say that to me again." The Captain threatened Hoyt as he fell asleep.

The Captain looked down at Monkey as she slept in the bedroll and put the top over her, tucking her in afterwards.

"We'll see who's right." He told himself.


	75. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75: Planning**

The team walked through the crowd of people early in the morning, looking around for peering eyes. Javier bumped into someone, and stumbled back.

"You." Augustus glared at him.

"Yeah." Javier tested his foe. He looked down to Augustus's hand, and noticed it was missing a few fingers.

"You look good buddy, wanna high five?" Javier asked him angrily.

"O—kay." I said to Javier, holding onto his shoulders to get away from the conflict.

"You will get yours someday, pee-pants." Fernando threatened as he walked away.

"Why don't the only two Spanish people in here like each other?" Randy asked.

"He's not Spanish. He's _Puerto Rican_." Javier responded with smite.

"Right…" Randy said.

We moved Javier away and walked towards the sets of brick walls, tapping at the secret area until the door opened up for us.

"Would you like something to drink?" Joe asked Michelle inside the annex.

"No. I'm fine." She told him.

"Now that we're all here, it's time to come clean with everything; all of us." Joe announced to the team.

"Sure, I'll tell you everything if you let me sleep in this awesome place. I had sex with Skyler the first day I got here." Javier blurted.

Amir cocked his head over at Javier and slapped him across the face.

"I'll just sit over there." Javier said as he went to the opposite corner.

"Obviously, since you're talking to me, there's been some secrets kept, and from what I'm about to tell you, there's no room for those secrets to be kept." Joe told everyone.

"Sarah and I were part of a group of four that were captured by Mister Dodson and sent here to be put on separate teams to fight until we die. It's only Sarah and I left now, and we want nothing more than to leave and continue to where we're going."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Randy asked him.

"You guys probably know by now about the veteran ceremony: a ceremony that Dodson attends to reward all the veterans of all the teams. My plan is to take him out during that and leave during all the chaos through the audience's exits." Joe told us.

"Yeah, and he's also surrounded by a bunch of guards during this." Jethro told him.

"_And_ highly trained killers." Joe added.

"Okay, so what do you think is going to happen if we get all of those veterans to agree with us, how are we going to get them to kill a bunch of armed men?" Jethro asked.

"I know a person who can sneak in guns for us." I told them.

"Great." Joe nodded.

"So how are we supposed to convince the rest of the teams that we're trying to help them?" Sandy asked.

"We don't have to. We'll get your team to go in through one of the elevators. Once the fighting happens, they'll see their chance to escape and work with us." Joe proposed.

"And what if we don't want to do this?" Jethro asked.

"What?" Joe asked him.

"Some people think our "leader" might be a blessed saint." I told him.

"That's not what I said." Jethro told us.

"Believe me, he's not." Joe told him. "I need to know who's with me on this."

"All the way, buddy." I told him.

"Yeah." Randy told him.

"Okay." Sandy nodded after waiting for her brother's response.

"I'm in." Cassidy told us.

"Monkey and I want to leave. I will do anything to get that to happen." The Captain said.

"Hmm… that's gay." Joe said as he looked at his outfit.

"I just don't see the point with you all. I'm sorry people, I'm out." Jethro told us.

"I disagree with him, I want to be the next Dodson!" Javier yelled.

"This isn't something for me. If you need a doctor afterwards, I'll happily assist you guys then, but I can't do this." Amir said to us.

The team looked at Hoyt and Michelle, awaiting a response.

"I just want to rest. I don't… I don't want to." Michelle told us.

"What about you, Hoyt?" Javier asked him.

"I changed my mind. I'm going with you guys…" He told us.

"And I'm going take him down."


	76. Chapter 76

**Chapter 76: Break-Up**

We agreed on the plan, I was going to win the veteran match and help get our team into the arena with the help of Kat. All we had to do now was prepare. Hoyt had me on a strict diet and made me exercise for hours every day. Hoyt and Michelle continued to argue every night, and it got worse and worse as the week went on.

"You don't care! You didn't even want to see me when it happened! You're were too high to even care about me!" Michelle yelled through the walls one night.

"Well maybe if I wasn't stressed every day I'd have some time to think about these things, you bitch!" Hoyt yelled back.

"Jesus Christ, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Javier yelled.

The camp was silent for a moment.

"Whoa." Randy's voice said.

The next morning, I got up, had a breakfast of soup and water, and went over to the Red Team and went into the tent.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Is there something you want, Sarah?" Kat asked me as Sampson stared me down as he watched over the girls.

"I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for your help in the Big Team Battle—"

"And let me guess, you need another favor from me?" She asked.

"Look, I don't care if you're working for Dodson now, and I don't care if we're related or not, but we're both stuck here together, and if you ever want to leave this place, you'll help me now."

"What are you cooking up, then?" Kat asked me.

"We're planning to leave during the next veteran's ceremony at the end of the month and I need you to smuggle in guns for us during that time." I told her.

"And you when start this coup, what are you planning to do afterwards?" She asked.

"I'm probably going to head towards the Southwest Commonwealth."

"Well here's what I want in return." Kat said as she folded her arms.

"I want to come with you." Kat told me.

"Deal. But let me warn you now…" I told her as I crouched down.

"If Dodson ever finds out about this plan, I swear that you'll regret it."

"And make sure you don't get caught." I told her as I walked out of the camp.

I moved back to the camp, where Joe ate his breakfast at the fire.

"Morning." He told me.

"Good morning." I told him.

Hoyt restlessly got out of his tent and walked up to me.

"Do a hundred push-ups." He ordered me.

"Already did this morning. That's how I wake myself up, now." I nodded.

"Looks like you're doing a hundred more." He shrugged upsettingly.

I went down to the ground and started to push myself up and down as Hoyt walked around me, judging my form.

"I got us the guns for the ceremony." I grunted as I pushed myself up.

"Good work." Joe told me as he ate.

"Don't pay attention to that, pay attention to your push-ups." Hoyt commanded.

"Sure thing." I said as I reached number twenty.

"When's the match?" Joe asked me.

"Today."

"You think you're ready?"

"I hope so."

"Hi guys." Sandy told us as she rubbed her eyes.

"You look tired." She told me.

"Wonder why." I said sarcastically as I counted to number sixty.

The televisions sparked out light around the camp above us and we all stopped moving, looking up at the screen.

"Morning, Blue and Orange Beauties. Guess what time it is?" Dodson asked as I got up and stared at the screen.

"Take your vets with you to arena five, you're going to need them." He said as the team woke up and looked at the screen.

The screen turned to black, and everyone looked at me as I looked down. Michelle left her home and looked at Hoyt and I. He stared resentfully back at her.

"Are you ready?" She asked me.

"Yes." I answered.

"Then let's go."

"You'll do fine, Sarah." Joe told me as he held onto my shoulder.

The three of us walked away, not looking back at the team as we went through the thickening crowd near the Great Arena. I asked them about the Orange Team. "Nothing to worry about, there's a reason you haven't heard of them." Michelle told me. We went to our elevator and started to ride it up.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is going to be a fight for the ages! On the Blue side, we have Sarah Marston, and brand new up-and-comer with the brawn and wit that got her here today along with Hoyt Lafayette and Michelle Von Steuben, two long time veterans of the infamous Blue Team!" Bob announced.

"And on the Orange side we have Victor Bratton, the sole survivor of the Orange Team! Coming back from his early retirement to fight his way to the top again!" Dave announced.

"You didn't really say it like you meant it." Bob told his co-host.

"I'm not talking to you today." Dave told him.

"They will be fighting a most dangerous battle today in a long time fan favorite arena! Jagged rocks overhead and no light to show the players the gaping pits of doom that riddle this arena! Please put on your night vision glasses, folks, because there are secrets that you'll want to discover!" Bob told the audience.

"People of the arena, you will see history be made today in this battle of the ages! Who is stronger, who is smarter, who has what it takes to be a veteran!" Dodson cheered as the doors opened.

"Damn, it's dark in here." Hoyt said as we stumbled onto the weapon box.

"No shit, didn't you hear anything?" Michelle asked him.

"Can you really not fight right now?" I asked them.

"Look." I said as I turned on my Pip-Boy light.

"What do we have?" I asked them as I held the light into the weapon box.

"Uh… flare gun and a bunch of little knives." Hoyt said as he gave me the gun and two knives.

"This is useless." Hoyt sighed at the sight of the weapons.

"Shut up! Don't say that, you idiot she still has a chance!" Michelle smacked Hoyt in the arm.

"Don't hit me!" Hoyt yelled.

"Can you guys stop? Let's go and tell me if you see anything." I told them as I led the way.

"This isn't enough light." Hoyt told me.

"Stop complaining, at least we have something." Michelle told him as we walked past moist rock formations, making me slip on the ground slightly as we trudged through the dark canyon.

"See anything?" I asked them.

"No." Michelle told me.

"What was that?" Hoyt asked, making me turn around.

"I didn't hear anything, you're imagining things." Michelle told him.

"I told you I heard something." Hoyt said.

"Let's just keep going." I told them.

"She said to keep going, Hoyt. Don't tell me you're high again, or I swear—"

"I'm not high! I'm not an idiot!" Hoyt argued.

"Really? Because it seems like you make stupid choices all the time!" Michelle argued back.

"Hold on, there's a hole in the way." I said as I looked down a large dark circle in the ground.

I walked past it, and kept my flare gun held up high as I looked around.

"Where is this guy?" I asked them.

I heard someone trip behind me and crush rock with their feet. I turned my head to face the veteran who made the sound.

"Stop with the sound, I'm trying to—"

No one was behind me anymore, only the crumbling of rocks around me.

"Guys?" I asked as I walked closer to the sound.

"Hoyt? Michelle?" I walked even closer, my gun held tightly.

My light reflected off of skin ahead, and I moved my arm up the figure in the pitch dark. Its skin was greenish-gray and clammy. The person was crouched down in the dark, mumbling to himself. Algal growths were popped out of its skin with barnacles growing out of its eye sockets. The man had claws instead of hands, and he ripped apart a man in orange in front of him.

"No… oh no…" I gasped.

I heard a scream come down the cave, alerting me and the Clamper of its presence. It screamed in the air in a shrill voice like a dying fish. I kicked the Clamper down onto his stomach and stomped its head in with my foot, breaking the skull open easily.

I ran down as fast as I could to the scream, dodging holes around my feet as my Pip-Boy lit them up.

"No, don't go into there, we can't see you get eaten from that angle!" Bob said sadly.

The screams grew louder as I advanced on Hoyt on the ground, being attacked by Michelle.

"What the hell are you guys doing? There's infected everywhere!" I yelled.

"Get her off of me!" Hoyt yelled as he pushed Michelle away.

"Sarah! Look!" Michelle warned me as she pointed to Hoyt's neck.

"He's infected!" She yelled as she pointed to a spot of ripped flesh on Hoyt's neck.

"No I'm not! I fell on some rocks!" Hoyt argued.

"Sarah, you know what we have to do!" Michelle got up and looked at me.

Michelle's face cracked against a rock as Hoyt delivered the blow. She fell onto the ground in front of me as Hoyt stared sternly at her.

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" I yelled at him.

He turned to me and shook his head.

"I don't know." He told me.

Hoyt grabbed my gun as he pulled out a knife from his pocket. I held tightly onto the gun and grabbed the wrist that held the knife with my right hand and Hoyt grunted angrily at me. I twisted my torso from left to right, hoping Hoyt would drop something in the exchange. His wrist moved back away from my hand, leaving my right hand open. Hoyt thrust forward with the knife as I punched him in the throat, ending his attack on me. I pulled out my knife as Hoyt wrestled his fingers near the trigger of the flare gun. I struggled to aim it forward at Hoyt's chest, but he shoved himself forward as I fired, sending the flare off to the side with a brilliant red light, illuminating the cave for a moment as it traveled forward. We stopped fighting and looked at the flare as it light up dozens of infected staring at us. The light ended as the flare landed on the ground further ahead of us, slowly returning the cave to its dark state as the flare burnt out its light. The small cave was illuminated with red light, and the infected rushed at the source of it, clawing and yelled at the flare as it burned through them, setting the dryer ones ablaze. Hoyt rushed himself into me with a head butt. I stumbled backwards as Hoyt sent his knife at me. I parried the attack to my side and kneed his stomach in the counter attack, making him fall onto the floor.

Hoyt wasn't done, he gripped his knife and stabbed me in the ankle, making me scream and fall onto the ground with him. Hoyt got onto of me and slashed the knife at me. I held up my arms as they took the punishment for me. I shouted and wiggled with every slash he took, but the attack was done as Hoyt was tackled onto the ground by Michelle.

"Sarah, take the flares and get us out of here!" She yelled as she threw extra rounds onto the ground.

I didn't see where they landed; the cave became dark again after the flare lost its light. I felt something grab me in the dark, and I guarded myself from it as I stabbed its head with my knife. It fell onto of me, its heaviness too encumbering for me to continue standing. I slammed onto the ground, my head next to the flares. The infected screamed in the cave as their darker shadows got close to my light. My hands danced around the floor in search for the flares, and when I finally grabbed hold of one, an infected pounced on me. It landed on my dead shield laid across me of me, and clawed at it as I held my arm up on the dead body, pushing the two away. I heard Hoyt and Michelle fighting next to me.

Hoyt stabbed down at Michelle, and she dodged it, coming back with a punch downward as Hoyt missed his attack. Hoyt backed away and spun around with the knife in hand, and Michelle blocked his spinning back attack by holding onto his arm before the blade pierced her head. Hoyt back-kicked her in the stomach and she slid back, almost losing her balance in the increasingly dangerous darkness. Hoyt stabbed down at her again, and entered the blade into her shoulder. Michelle screamed as Hoyt took it out, readying another stab. Michelle took his arm and moved it to the side, striking down at Hoyt with her left hand. Hoyt fell onto his hands and knees, and Michelle took this chance to give his face the end of her boot.

I loaded the flare into my gun and pushed the Napper away from me, firing the round away from us. The infected ran at it as the cave lit up again for us. I took the rest of the rounds and put them away as I pushed the dead Clamper off of me and ran to Michelle's aid.

Hoyt grabbed Michelle's ankle and pulled it out from under her. Her back smacked against the rocks as Hoyt began to choke her. I grabbed him from behind in a headlock and tore him off of Michelle as she got up and punched him. I held him still as Michelle punched Hoyt across the face. Michelle gave him two more punches and readied a third and final hook aimed right at his cheek. As she cocked it back, Hoyt bent forward quickly, and being attached to his neck, my head went with him. Michelle's target changed, but she couldn't stop her punch. She hooked me across the face, sending me off of Hoyt and into the ground. Hoyt popped up again and grabbed Michelle's punching arm and threw her over his shoulder. He bent down to the ground and picked up his knife as he stared at Michelle's unconscious body.

The infected once again drew closer to us, and the cave darkened around us as the infected screamed for more bloodshed, roaring as they went closer to us. I loaded in another shot to the flare gun as Hoyt spun me around, his knife drawn at me. I stared at the knife as it came down at my neck. His arm was pulled back and taken control of by Michelle. She took the blade and stabbed Hoyt in the stomach, pulling the pair backwards with each stab.

"Sarah! Shoot him! _Shoot him!_" Michelle yelled as Hoyt ripped the blade out of him.

I aimed the flare gun at him as Michelle held onto Hoyt's back and continued to slice anything with what little control she had of the blade. I fired the flare at Hoyt's chest, and the infected came running after it. It burned into Hoyt's chest, sending sparks off as it melted his flesh and burrowed into his skin. Hoyt screamed as the infected ran into the pair, knocking them down. I expected them to fall onto the ground, but the infected followed the flare down into the pit that was right behind them.

I gasped and screamed, not realizing what I had done as the infected chased after the flare into the deep pit. The light was gone, telling me how far they fell. I shook my head as I backed away, dropping the flare gun and running back to the elevator.

"Ah! There you are! Looks like we have a winner today folks! Allow me to declare our newest veteran, Sarah Marston!" Dodson announced as the crowd went wild.

I gave the guards my remaining weapons, and walked back to the camp slowly, immense guilt over my face.

"Sarah!" Joe exclaimed excitedly.

He ran at me, but stopped when the team looked for more. The team walked closer to me, and stared as I walked back alone.

"What happened?" Joe asked me.

My face got red, and I covered it with my hands as I sat onto the ground, shaking my head over and over.

The news was conveyed throughout the team with silence and facial expressions. They stared at me quietly, the team one-by-one finding out what happened as they waited for their friends to come back.

"I didn't know… I didn't know what I did…" I sobbed as I told them.

"You're okay, Sarah. It wasn't your fault." Joe told me as he held my back.

"I didn't know. I couldn't see until…"

"What are we going to do, now?" Javier asked us.

"We continue on as normal until the end of the month." Joe told us.

"We can't just sit here and act like nothing's changed, Joe!" Randy yelled.

"Nothing has!" He yelled back.

"We continue on the same track until the end of the month, that's it. We're not calling it off now!" Joe shouted.

"Look, I know they were your friends and all, but we're dreaming of something much bigger than them and they can't be in our minds this whole time, it'll kill us." Joe told the team.

"We just need to keep it together, maybe find more people to help us." Joe said as he stroked his beard.

"There isn't anyone left." I told him.

"We'll find someone." He assured me.

"In the meantime, you guys finish up anything you have to do, we're approaching the point of no return." Joe said to us as he walked away.

"Sarah." Amir said as he walked up to me.

"What is it, Amir?" I asked him.

"I know this may not be the best time, but we need to talk about your condition." He said quietly.

"What about it?" I asked him as I got up and walked with him.

"Come with me." He said with a serious tone, leading me into his office.

I closed the door behind me and sat down in the cot as Amir went over to his medical shelf. He leaned on the table and looked at me without an expression.

"You have a brain tumor. Your last test confirms it." He told me blankly.

I looked at him, exhaling through my mouth as my eyes drifted to the floor.

"If you have any chance in living, you'd undergo surgery immediately before it affects any part of your brain more than it already has."

"Are you sure it's going to help?"

Amir sighed and felt his chin.

"No. I'm going to level with you here Sarah because of its important. There's a large chance that you may not survive the surgery, but I promise that I will do my best to help you. It's your choice on how to handle this." He told me.

I waited on the cot for a moment, and put my palms onto my forehead in stress.

"Oh God, why now?" I asked myself.

"If I were you, I wouldn't wait. It's been there for a while and it may not even be dormant."

I breathed out hard. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" I asked him.

"Yes. I've performed brain surgeries on the team many times in my life to remove shrapnel from the skull."

"Okay, Amir. Let's do it." I told him quietly.

"Do you want me to tell the team?"

"Yes. I'm not keeping anything from them now."

"Okay." Amir said as he walked outside.

I rested my head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling by myself, thinking that I was going to die in here.


	77. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77: Allegiance**

"What's a brain tumor?" Sandy asked Amir as the team looked at her.

"Wow, really?" Javier asked.

"It's a cancerous lump on Sarah's brain and she's needs to undergo surgery now before it kills her or damages her brain more."

"So does that mean Sarah's retarded?" Randy asked.

Jethro pointed his finger at Randy. "Yes."

"No, it doesn't, it means she's dying and she specifically asked me to tell you guys this so she didn't have to keep this a secret from you." Amir told them.

"Should we go and tell Joe?" Cassidy asked him.

"Uh, no. He's got a lot on his plate right now and worrying him is only going to make it worse."

"But didn't you say she could die? I think that's a pretty good reason to put all his plans on hold." Randy told him.

"Look, he's an old guy and he shouldn't have hours to worry about his friend if there's a chance she might survive. If something goes wrong, we'll tell him then." Amir announced.

"Okay." Javier shook his head.

"So how long is this going to take?" Sandy asked.

"I have no idea. Could take a day or even a couple." Amir answered.

"Goddamn…" Randy sighed.

"What's going to happen if she doesn't pull through, Amir? What does that mean for you plans, or this team in general?" Javier asked.

"I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Please don't disturb me. I'm going to be putting her under now." Amir said as he turned away from us.

Joe sat across the arena by himself in the Black Team camp, sitting on a couch and staring at the empty tents around from him. He heard feet run to him, and he turned to face them.

"You are the prophet of God, right?" A young girl asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"My sister's sick, and the doctors don't know what to do." She told him.

"You're on a different team than me, you _do_ realize that?" Joe asked her.

"Why does that matter to you?"

Joe stared at her as he made no motion to get up from the chair. He started to think to himself. He pushed his hair back from being in his face and felt his beard as the young girl in red pleaded with him with her eyes.

"How long has she been sick?" Joe asked her.

"Since yesterday. We've given her medicines and it's only getting worse."

"Uh, well… let's go, then." He said as he got up.

Joe doubted himself. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, he wasn't even sure if he should help her or not. He thought the entire walk over to the Red Team's camp, where Joe was greeted by a large number of young girls in a tent.

"We brought someone to help you." The young girl said to another as she sat on the ground, curled up in sweat.

"Why did you bring this guy here? Haven't you heard anything about him?" Kat asked her.

"I didn't know what to do." The young girl responded.

Joe was grabbed by a large towering man with veins popping out of his neck. Joe looked at him, not attacking back, but looking at the girl on the ground.

"What are you feeling?" Joe asked the infirmed girl.

"I'm cold… everything hurts." She moaned.

Joe picked Sampson's hand off of him gently, and walked over to her. Joe felt her forehead, she had a fever. He then placed his hand on her left shoulder, than the right, then over her heart.

"You'll get better, now." Joe told the young girl as she shivered quickly.

"Cover her in a blanket and give her fresh air." He instructed them.

"What would that do?" One of the girl's asked.

"Because it is how I mark the one's He saves." Joe answered as he walked away, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he looked back.

"Did you really help her?" Kat asked Joe outside.

"She has a fever and needs antibiotics as quickly as you can get them, that's not advice from God, that's advice from me." Joe told her.

"I thought you were 'marking her for God'." Kat told him.

"Alright, you can either listen to me or not, okay?" Joe looked down at the girl as he held his waist.

"Why did you even try to help us?" Kat asked.

Joe didn't want to tell her, the girl in there reminded him of his daughters when they got sick with a fever. He knew how to treat them, but he was torn up inside when he looked at her face and thought about what team she was on.

"Just-keep an eye on her." Joe told Kat as he walked away.

"Are you ready?" Amir asked me back at the doctor's office.

I was laid into a cot in the middle of the room with a flashlight mounted above me, placed at my head.

"Yes." I told him as I closed my eyes for a moment.

"Here." Amir told me as he handed me an inhaler.

"For you to go to sleep." He instructed.

I took the inhaler and breathed in the vapor and placed it on the side along with the surgical equipment.

"Wow…" I exhaled as my body got weak and went numb in my neck. My body fell asleep soon after, and my eyelids closed as Amir picked up a scalpel.

I opened my eyes in what seemed like an instant, already tucked into my bedroll. My eyes opened slowly as I knew it was over, and I smiled to myself.

"How are you feeling?" I was asked.

"My head still hurts. How did it go?" I answered as I lifted myself up to have a conversation.

I snapped awake as I stared at Dr. Frederickson smiled at me inside of a white room surrounded by posters.

"No!" I yelled in panic as I pushed myself away from him.

"Calm down, Sady." He told me.

"No! No, no, no!" I yelled as I tried to get away from the nightmare.

"You're safe here, please, don't make me get the orderlies." He threatened gently.

"No… why?" I asked myself.

"You were making such great progress, Sady, what happened?" The doctor asked.

"Get away from me!" I yelled.

"Sady—"

"Leave me alone!"

The doctor got up and walked out of my cell as the guarding orderly patrolled past him. I looked around the room and felt my face. I felt awake, more than I've ever been and that scared me. I sat in the white bed surrounded by soft sheets and huddled into the corner, not wanting to realize that I'm dead. A nurse walked into my room with a tray in her hands.

"You." I told her as I pointed to her red hair.

"You're the one who put me in here, you said you'd help me!"

"Uh, what?" The woman asked as she set down the tray.

"I'm here to give you your food forthe night, and I also heard you love coloring books, so here's a brand new one with a fresh set of crayons!" The woman smiled as she fabricated an enticing offer.

"I don't like coloring books." I told her.

"Nonsense! Dr. Frederickson said that you _love_ them! Maybe you should start using your brain for once."

"Excuse me?" I asked her angrily.

"Have a wonderful dinner. It's chicken pot pie and chocolate cake!" The woman smiled as she walked away.

"You bitch." I mumbled to myself.

I lifted up the tray and looked at the chicken and cake and sighed.

"What are you gonna choose, doll?" A voice called to me.

"What?" I asked the empty room.

"It's such a hard choice for you? The pure chicken pot pie or the evil chocolate cake! Which do you choose?!" The voice asked.

"This is some kind of joke, right?" I asked nothingness.

"The chocolate cake is so enticing, but if you give in, you're selfish! But the chicken pot pie makes everyone hate you, but it's always good for you!" The voice said.

Scared, I threw the tray onto the ground, splattering the food onto the once sparkling clean floor.

"Wow, uh—okay." The voice said.

"That's not how I make my decisions, asshole!" I yelled at the walls.

I felt my head, I felt like I was going insane. I had all my hair back, except this time it was soft and straight all the way through, no knots or roughness. Everything around me was different and I didn't like it. I felt the wall next to me, trying to break free of this prison. The wall next to me was scratched, I remembered feeling this wall. Something was different about it, it stuck out in this perfect world, and I wasn't the one to change it. I looked over at the coloring book and crayons as they sat on the end of the bed. I took the coloring utensils out of the box and sprinkled all of the colors onto my lap. I picked up the black crayon and held it in my hand. I aimed it at the wall and pressed the crayon against the lines in the wall, tracing the interconnected lines and shapes with the crayon until I could feel no more scratches.

I filled in the cracked away paint and looked at the final result. It was writing, in an over exaggerating form. Scribbling lines and drawings were carved into the wall in front of me, all of them now shown. They looked like they were drawn by a child or a shaking hand. Scattered words were all over in black and at the center were the words "ONLY WAY OUT". Below it were scribbled X's and faces around them. I made out more words like "WHY DO I SEE?" and "I'M NOT FIXED YET". The cryptic messages set on me on edge, and I got off of the bed, looking at the wall.

The door behind to my cell opened, and I looked at an orderly as their mouth opened.

'I… a…" The wordless person said as they turned to run away.

"Dr. Frederickson!" They shouted as they ran away.

I had enough. I couldn't sit there anymore. I left from the previously opened door and ran in the opposite direction of from the orderly, sprinting as fast as I could down the block of cells.

I blew through a set of doors and into the cafeteria where everyone ate their dinner.

"I WANT MORE CAKE!" A patient screamed, slamming his fists onto the table as everyone around him backed away.

I was surrounded by the Blue Team, they were all patients here. If all my closest friends were pitted against me, why where the people I've been spending most of my time with in the same situation as me? Their personalities were similar, not at all like the others that I've encountered, mirroring their egos completely. The Blue Team was special, I could feel it.

A young man with spiky hair bobbed his head up and down to a radio that played heavy metal. An orderly walked over to one of the patients to calm him down.

"Too much cake's bad for you." She told him.

"I WANT MORE!" He shouted.

"Okay." She told him as she went to fetch more.

It hurt my stomach to watch this. Everything felt wrong and no one noticed it except for me. I kept telling myself that this wasn't real when everything around me made it eel otherwise. I smelled the chocolate cake being brought and I could feel myself running out of breath after running. I felt the weight of my gown on me and I could feel the balance of my body from standing upright. The only thing changed was my mind; otherwise I was a completely different person. I was dead and my mind didn't want to cope with it even though my body did long ago. I was going in to live here eventually; there wasn't anything I could do to stop myself from going back to this place.

I lost.


	78. Chapter 78

**Act 3:**

**Fallout**

_"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."_

_-Revelation 21:4_

**Chapter 78: Hail Mary**

"Hello everyone, where's Sarah?" Joe asked the team.

"Uh." Javier responded, making the entire camp look at him.

"Uh…et..sh…"

Joe waited in anticipation for Javier's stage moment in the play called "Don't Fuck Up" by Amir Al'Zahar.

"Ahem…ah…uh—"

"Okay, can someone else answer me?" Joe asked the team.

"She's off doing a match for some food." Randy told him with a nod.

"How long ago did she leave?" Joe asked.

"A few minutes. The match probably just started." He answered.

"Alright. I'll come back later, then." Joe told the team as he walked away.

Jethro high-fived Randy and nodded heads as Joe was sent off. Sandy smiled at her brother as she played with her glitter with Monkey.

"How do you think it's going in there?" Javier asked everyone.

"It's probably disgusting." Cassidy answered.

"That's rare, coming from you." Randy smiled.

"I just don't like blood and stuff."

"It's probably not that bad." Randy told her.

"Oh yeah? Why don't _you_ go in there and tell us what's it's like?" Javier dared.

"That was supposed to be Cassidy's proposition and I don't need to." Randy told him.

"Sounds like you're afraid to me." Jethro smiled as he got up to his wall.

"I can already tell what's going on in there, she's probably being cut open and stuff." Randy argued.

"So why don't you just go in there and check it out for us?" Javier challenged.

"Just leave it alone, guys." Cassidy told them.

"I don't need to prove myself to you! It should be the other way around." Randy argued back.

"Fear is not an object to hide away; it is to be removed at the soonest possible moment like a tick or space… uh, bug." The Captain told them.

"I really don't think now's the time for a philosophical quote by the guy with a glass helmet." Randy told him.

"Is there a specific time for that?" Sandy asked.

"I think it's time to watch Randy chicken out!" Javier smiled.

"Just drop it; something serious is going on in there!" Cassidy exclaimed.

"Randy, is your last name 'Poultry'?" Jethro asked him.

"Obviously not, that's a stupid name to hav—oh, Chicken. Right."

"What's stupid is not poking your head in there to convince us that you're not a little man-baby!" Javier egged on him.

"Well maybe I'm too tired to get up for some stupid dare!" Randy argued.

"Guys, shut up!" Cassidy yelled.

Javier got up to his feet and danced around the camp.

"I'm Randy!" Javier imitated.

"I killed four men with a bag of frozen shit but I'm too scared to look in a room with a girl in it!" He danced.

Sandy gave Monkey back to the Captain and got up, walking towards the office.

"Where are you going?" Randy asked her.

"I'm going inside to settle this stupid dare. Something horrible just happened to our friends and one of them might be in there dying right now, and you guys don't seem to care." Sandy told them.

"Look, Sandy, I don't expect you to understand, but our 'friends' weren't the greatest role models in the world, I'm not really sure we should even call them friends. Hoyt and Michelle were liars, and whatever happened to them was probably because of another secret they kept from us." Randy told her.

"It doesn't matter. They still kept you fed and helped you when you were being hurt by other people." Sandy told off her brother as she opened the door to the office.

"Sandy!" Randy called after her.

Randy sat there on the ground as he stared at the door to the office.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Javier asked him.

"No, no. She's too far gone." He told Javier.

"But you know where she went, she's in Amir's office, it's like, 20 feet away." Javier told him.

"I…uh, I'm sure she's fine."

Sandy slowly opened the door to the office and moved her head inside. Amir stood over the cot where my body laid face up, a tube sticking out of my mouth as Amir injected me in the arm with a needle.

"Sandy, what do you want? I'm busy."

"Why haven't you done anything to Sarah yet? It's been a few hours." Sandy said confusingly at him.

"Sandy, please. I'm a doctor, I know what I'm doing." He said as he pulled out a different syringe and injected it into another spot in my arm.

Sandy looked at me more closely where Amir was injecting me. My arms were covered with holes, my veins being pumped full of things by Amir. Sandy looked at me and realized that was the only thing being done to me in there.

"Sandy, get out." Amir threatened her with an angry stare.

She closed the door and walked back to the camp where everyone was already talking about something else.

"So what's going on inside? Did you see her brain?" Javier asked.

"He hasn't touched her head yet; he's been injecting things into her this entire time." Sandy said worriedly.

"Shouldn't we do something about that?" She asked the team.

"Sandy, Amir's fixed us up for years, it doesn't always happen quickly, but it always gets done. Don't question it." Randy eased her.

"What about you?" Sandy asked the Captain.

"He has helped me with my battle injury. I trust his judgment, you have nothing to worry about and neither do we." The Captain nodded.

Sandy shook her head at everyone and sprinted away, heading towards the crowd near the Great Arena.

The Captain stared at her as she ran away, and he shook his head.

"Nah, she's too far gone." The Captain said as she headed into the crowd.

"I like you, new guy." Randy smiled at him as he took a sip of Nuka-Cola.

Sandy pushed people out of the way in the crowd, running until she reached the Black Team's base, where Joe sat in a folding chair, watching all of the tents.

"Joe." She asked him.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"It's Sarah. Amir's been pricking her with needles the last two hours." Sandy told him.

"_What_? You people told me she was in a match!" Joe got up from his chair angrily.

Joe ran toward the base with Sandy behind him. He moved faster than anyone would believe a man his age could, and he shocked the team as he flew by them. Joe ran through the office door and broke the delicate door off of the remaining hinges it had, surprising Amir as he finished injecting another needle into my neck.

"What the hell are you doing to her?!" Joe roared at him.

"Oh no." Amir gasped as he dropped the needle he held and fished through a case of several others and pulled out a specific needle and aimed it back towards my body.

Joe charged into Amir as he held the needle to one of my veins and he flew back into the wall, gripping the needle as he grabbed a bone saw and swung it in front of the two. Joe moved Sandy behind him as they backed away from his attacks. Joe kicked the rolling shelf of surgical equipment next to him and it went barreling into Amir, knocking him back as the equipment spilled over him.

"Go get the team." Joe commanded Sandy as she ran out of the room.

Joe walked over to Amir's unconscious body and knelt over him as he stared at the needle in his left hand. He reached out for the red concoction inside of it with curiosity. To his surprise, Amir's eyes sparked open as he stabbed Joe in the leg with a scalpel and kicked him away from himself. Amir got up and went over to Joe, jumping at his neck as he held surgical tubing to it. Amir started to hold the tubes back, choking Joe as he wiggled around. Amir held tightly onto Joe's back as he ran himself backwards into a wall, smacking Amir against it. He held only tighter onto Joe as he bucked him around, his face turning blood red as he lost more air. He slammed Amir into a shelf, breaking off the moldy wood and sending things tumbling down into the ground. Joe bucked Amir into another wall, then again, cracking Amir into the drywall. For the third time, Joe slammed his back into the wall, only this time the wall separated and collapsed, sending the two outside as Amir fell to the ground, allowing Joe to cough and breathe.

"Oh shit, they're killing each other!" Randy yelled as they team got up.

Amir got on top of Joe as he tried to breathe in and swiped the needle at Joe's neck. Joe lifted his hands and grabbed tightly onto Amir's wrist and neck, choking him angrily as Joe's large hands squeezed the life out of Amir as he knelt over him. Joe forced the needle away from himself and towards Amir. Amir's blood red eyes looked over at the needle as Joe moved it closer to him. Joe grunted angrily as he choked Amir, and now it was only a race to see what would defeat him first. Joe roared in anger as he stabbed the needle into Amir's neck and pushed the injection into him as Amir was choked out unconscious, falling limp as Joe continued to hold tighter onto his neck, only with two hands. Joe got to his feet and ran forward, running Amir's head into the remaining bits of his office.

Joe breathed heavily as the team ran over to him. They all looked at Amir as a rattling choke came out of his mouth. His head bobbed up and around as his body lay against the broken wall.

"Holy shit-clamp, is he dead?" Javier asked as they stared at Amir.

Amir began to scream and choke at the same time, his body moving around like he was having a stroke. That might have been what was happening, I'm not sure dude, I'm not the doctor. Everyone stared at Amir as his screams subsided as his episodic possession ended, leaving him motionless on the ground in front of them.

"What the hell was that?" Jethro asked in fear.

"He was a spy." Joe answered as he wiped his face of sweat. "He wasn't helping Sarah."

"Then how is she going to go through with the operation?" Sandy asked.

Joe didn't answer; he only walked forward into the office. The team followed as they stared down at my body, complete with all the injections Amir had given me.

"Oh Christ." Joe gasped as he looked at my condition.

"What did he do? She looks like she's been sucked dry." Randy pointed to my gray skin and veins.

"We need to help her." Joe said as he looked down at me and held my hand.

He saw me wince in pain to his touch, and his face went from sadness to fear.

"The anesthesia's wearing off." Joe told us.

"What do we do?" Javier asked.

"We need to call in a match to get someone to help her." Randy answered.

"We don't have time for that, didn't you hear me? She's going to feel all of this in a matter of minutes!" Joe yelled.

"Then there's nothing we can do." Jethro told us.

"No, there's something. There has to be something." Joe said as he looked at my face.

"Why?" He asked himself as he looked at me.

Joe shook his head and walked out of the room, heading away from the camp.

"Where are you going?" Randy called after him.

"I'm going to make Dodson help her." Joe answered as he went into the crowd.

"What does that mean?" Javier asked.

"It means we don't have a doctor and that anyone could be a spy." Randy told us.

"Without medical help, we're on very thin ice." He said as he stared at Jethro.

"What are you looking at me for?" Jethro asked.

"How did Amir manage to get so many chems?" Randy asked him.

"You can't be serious." Jethro looked back at him with concerned eyes.

"Randy, Jethro's your friend, he wouldn't do anything to hurt the team." Sandy told him.

"I'm sure that's what Amir would have said, too." Randy told his sister.

"He should take us to his stash, then!" Javier proposed.

"Good idea." Randy said as he waited on Jethro.

"Don't listen to him!" Jethro yelled.

Jethro looked at the team, and sighed as he turned around to lead the team to his stash.

"Cappy, did we do a background check on—"

"Quiet, monkey-servant. I didn't give you permission to speak. I'm trying to listen to this." The Captain told her.

"And it's 'Captain'." Captain Cosmos corrected.

"Just say it right." He shook his head and mumbled to himself.

"See?" Jethro showed the team as he opened a box full of needles and inhalers in a box up on his perch.

"Damn druggies gonna have a field day now." Jethro mumbled to himself.

Joe took the elevator up to Dodson's office and walked through to Dodson sitting at his desk.

"Don't you people knock?" Dodson asked angrily. He then started chuckling to himself.

"That was a joke." He told Joe.

"You're going to help get Sarah better." Joe told him as he put his hands on his desk.

"Uh, why?" Dodson asked.

"Because your little helpers have turned her into a chemical lab rat at the Blue Team's base, and you're going to make it right again." Joe glared at the smug man in the suit.

Dodson's facial expression changed, and he sat back in his chair with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but it's sweet how you reunited with your old friend again." Dodson told him.

Joe slammed his fist onto Mister Dodson's desk, making the guards aim their weapons at Joe. He didn't seem to care; he only looked with pure anger at the man sitting at the desk.

"This isn't a game, Dodson! Help her, or I'm coming back here for you!" Joe yelled as he went back into the elevator.

As the door's closed, Dodson went back to watching the game in one of the arenas.

"Yeah, I'm not going to help him." Dodson concluded.

"Yes you are!" A voiced yelled to him in another room.

"Why?"

"If you don't, our deal's through!" The voice threatened.

"Fine." Dodson gave in.

"And act like you mean it!" The voice called as Dodson got up from his desk.

Mister Dodson sighed, and then turned off the television screen. He held up his hand and snapped his fingers and a group of servants came rushing in.

"Stop what you're doing and come with me. Bring your medical stuff or whatever it is you use to transport this person, I honestly don't care how because you people like to bore me when you explain it" Dodson told the team of hazmats.

"On it." The Commander of the team said.

"Even that was boring to me." Dodson sighed.

"Guys with guns, come with me, too." Dodson told the guards.

"And…" Dodson choked on the next bit of information to his servants.

"Send a courier to Marge and tell her to convene with me at the fastest possible time. It's important." Dodson told them.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" The Commander asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about." Dodson answered.

The guards surrounded Dodson and his team as they left the elevator. With their guns aimed at anyone who went near Dodson, the group separated the dense crowd of people as they went to the Blue Team's base. People stared as Dodson walked with his cane into the camp. The guards took positions covering the entire base as the hazmat team walked towards the office. The leader of the team looked at Joe as he walked over to them. She stared at him, and he stared back at her, remembering their history.

"She's in there." Joe told them as he pointed to the destroyed building with Amir lying next to it.

Parts of the hazmat team went over to Amir and checked his body.

"He's dead, Commander." One said.

"Good work, professor!" Randy called.

"Shut up." Sandy told him.

"You might want to see this." The hazmat said as the Commander walked over to his body.

"Looks like they did it. Find what was inside of him and take notes on the formula." The Commander said as she went inside.

They pulled by pale body out of the office and carried her away. Joe went over to Dodson, who looked at the team.

"It smells bad here; you guys should do something about that." He told them.

"Dodson." Joe called at him.

"Joseph! Is there something you need?" He asked.

"She has a brain tumor, but I'm guessing you already know that. I'm warning you, I better get her back."

"Oh, don't worry. You will." Dodson nodded as the hazmat team took my body with the guards and Dodson.

The Commander turned to Joe as he stared sternly back at her as they left surrounded by the soldiers.

"You guys think I can pull off using a cane?" Javier asked us.

"Probably not." Randy answered.

"Now what do we do? The ceremony's in two weeks." Cassidy asked.

"We wait and continue with the plan, as always." Joe answered.

"What about Sarah? Don't you think Dodson will have you jump through hoops to get her back?"

"You shouldn't worry about Dodson, you should worry about me. If I find out you keep another thing like this to yourselves, you'll end up like Amir." Joe threatened.

"In the meantime, watch your backs, it's not safe." Joe warned the team.

"Uh… ah…" Javier mumbled.

"Don't start this again." Joe sighed at him.

"I'm not going with you guys during the ceremony." Javier told us.

"Argh!" The team displayed their anger at Javier, except for Jethro, who washed his face with water.

"Dodson's not that bad of a guy, and I think I've got it good here. I'm _somebody_ at the arena, I actually have fans now!" Javier nodded.

"They're not here." Randy said.

"Ha!" Jethro laughed from atop his perch.

"Fine, we don't need you." Joe told him as he walked away from the camp.

"Hey, wait!" Javier called after Joe, but he was already too far gone.

"They left the body here." He said as the team looked at Amir's bleeding body.

"What do we do with it?" Cassidy asked everyone.

The team sat around the campfire twenty minutes later as they stared at Amir's body as he burned in the fire pit.

"We're not going to eat him, right?" Javier asked.

"Of course not, we're not savages." Randy answered as he poked Amir's burning body with a stick.


	79. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79: Rebirth**

"He-hey, S-S-Sady!" Sammy called for me from the table.

"ARGH!" Rachel shouted uncontrollably.

"It's chocolate cake night!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know." I told them as I sat down at the table with them.

"A-aren't you going to eat any, it's d-d-delicious!" Sammy smiled as he ate the cake.

"Sugar's… not good for us." Sydney told us quietly.

"So eat fruit." I told her.

"I like apples." She told me.

"Cool. So what does that medicine you guys took do to you?" I asked them.

"PASTRY… CHIPS!" Rachel yelled.

"It usually just makes me all sleepy and not want to talk to anyone. Dr. Fredrickson talks to me with it, though." Rachel answered.

"Do you know what it's called?" I asked.

"C-C-yclo…b…" Sammy tried to tell me.

"Well thanks for trying." I told him as I looked around.

"Hey!" I called to Lawson as he ate at the table.

"Please don't try this again." Lawson told me as I sat in front of him.

"Shut up and listen to me. Do you ever see a lady with red hair at certain points in the asylum?"

"Yeah, she's supposed to act as a nurse."

"But you know she's not, right?"

"Yeah, of course I know she's not. She's a figment of my imagination that my mind created to keep me from going insane when I die, just like you."

I sighed angrily and sat down.

"You know, if I had a boner right now, talking to you would kill it."

"Ew, what the fuck? My mind never thinks up that kind of stuff! That's disgusting!"

"Good, so do you understand that I'm not really a part of your head?"

"No! I just think that I'm going insane-er now!"

"Dude, fuck you. That's just what they want you to think, and shit I just realized I just used a cliché crazy person line."

"Yeah, nice work." Lawson scoffed.

"I talked to Fredrickson and he said that you and I have a specific brain problem."

"And what's that?"

"We're both the same type of psychos. He said our minds lie to us and make us believe our own… lies." I said slowly, now realizing how much sense that made.

"Really?" Lawson asked.

"Yes, so that's what explains the asylum and literally everything that we've been thinking. It's all a lie—shit!"

"Really? Two cliché crazy person lines in one conversation! Is my mind getting dumber?"

"Well you did use insane-er."

"That's a word, isn't it?" Lawson questioned.

"No. It's 'more insane'."

"Fuck it, I'm not going to sit in a made up asylum and learn how to construct proper sentences with a make-believe person!" Lawson yelled.

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm… I'm…"

"Gonna sit there and take it like the bitch you are? We're supposed to be manipulative people! Why are we getting manipulated by ourselves?"

"A defense mechanism." Lawson answered.

"That's an idea. But I was thinking that…"

My vision got black around my peripheral view, and before I knew it, my head was resting against the table. I breathed in as I felt weak, so I tried to get myself moving after this random shutdown. My head hurt as I got up and I had to hold my head in place. My brain felt like it was rattling inside of my skull. I fell onto the ground as the door burst open in the cafeteria.

"We have an escaped patient!" One of the orderlies yelled as I closed my eyes on the ground.

"Detain her!" The orderlies yelled as I open my eyes and looked up at them.

Everything was different around me. The asylum was no longer a pre-war utopia of cleanliness. It aged hundreds of years after the bombs feel. The walls were stained and brown, the tables were thrown over and molding and the cafeteria was abandoned with cobwebs and cockroaches taking over. I was on the ground still, only this time I was sitting in blood. I was myself again, except it was different.

"What the fuck happened?" Lawson asked as he got up and looked around.

"She's in here, finish her off!" A voice yelled as I looked over to a door being bashed in. I got to my feet that squished from being filled up with blood. I was shot in my stomach and moving hurt. I was being hunted and I had to survive.

"Run…" I croaked.

Lawson and I ran forward into the next room as the door bashed open as bullets flew past me as people fired their assault rifles at me. Raiders chased me through the corridors as I held my stomach with my blood-stained hands. I got too weak after running and dropped onto the floor, letting Lawson continue without me. I crawled on my stomach, smearing my blood on the ground as I crawled weakly towards a set of double doors with sunlight coming from them. The footsteps ran faster toward me as I held out my arm and dragged myself across the floor. The raider kicked me over and held a rifle to my head as I looked up at him.

"No!" I managed to yell as he pulled the trigger.

I opened my eyes inside a room padded with soft pillows as the orderlies stared at me with fear. I didn't know how to handle death. The realization of it overcame me and I tried to break myself free. I screamed like a madwoman as I ran at the orderlies, bouncing around the room like a banshee. I slammed myself into the wall as I realized I was tied up. Captured again, yet another emotion that gave me stress and fear. I swung myself around as the orderlies backed out of the room and closed the door. I was scared, I could feel everything happening to me as if it were real, like some cruel joke that thought it were funny to have me die only to be transported to another hell. I ran myself into the bouncy wall and fell onto the soft floor as I moved my hands around crazily to no avail. The strait-jacket on me tightened my arms and kept me hostage, I couldn't do anything.

"Is he okay?" The orderlies asked as they gathered around an injured man outside my new cell.

"Get him to a doctor, and for God's sake, get him away from her." The orderly said as they looked at me on the ground.

I yelled at them, no words were formed, only screams of anger directed at them as I desperately tried to free myself. The orderlies got away from me, leaving me by myself in the padded room with no cheesy posters, bed, or bathroom. I was alone, I was angry, and I was scared, scared that my new life was going to be worse than the old one.

I got to my feet and ran at the door with all my might, yelling angrily at them. I ran into it and slammed into the metal, flying back and onto the soft, bouncy ground only to bounce on my back. I looked up at the ceiling and spotted a camera in the corner of the room looking at me. I stared at it, realizing that I was being watched. Thinking back at it now, I shouldn't have felt the way I did when I spotted it. I felt embarrassed, off-edge for acting the way I did now that I knew I was being watched by more people than the few orderlies who apparently detained me. I was confused on what happened to me, a cold sweat rose up from thinking about what just happened. Then, as quickly as the sensation came, it was gone and the anger rose back. I got to my feet and ran at the door with all my might, yelling as I slammed my body through it.

I accomplished my task; I closed my eyes and felt the door crash apart as I ran through it. I heard glass shatter around me, so I opened my eyes to see what I've done. I broke through a glass door, and my straightjacket was replaced with metal handcuffs settled on my front end. I turned around. I had broken through a convenience store at night, but this one was in perfect condition. A car with brightly intense and blinking red and blue lights was attached to a car that was parked outside. Two men ran out of the car with pistols drawn and ran at me. The people in the store screamed as an alarm went off. I turned to them and realized they were screaming at me. I ran through the store, trying to break free of my handcuffs as the men radioed in reinforcements. I ran to the end of the store where I spotted a green door and ran myself through it, exposing myself to the outdoors. A loud siren wailed as another car with lights drove up to me. I turned and ran down an alleyway as the reinforcements chased me down with their pistols.

"Heading south bound on Boadwester Avenue." The man said as they chased me.

I ran as fast I could, not wanting to go back to wherever they wanted me to go. Above all, I didn't want to go to the asylum again. I slammed through dozens of people as they walked on the sidewalks. The crowd of people split as the loud car chased after me down the street. I decided to cut across, behind a house that was still occupied by people. I ran into their backyard to escape the men, and found myself at a dead end with a wooden fence trapping mw. I heard dogs bark and snarl as they came closer to me, so I turned to face my only option. I held my bound hands up and grasped onto the fence, pulling myself up and over. I landed on my ankle awkwardly and slipped on falling leaves, sending myself down a hill uncontrollably until I landed harshly at the bottom into a small creek.

I landed on my stomach, my hands dipped in the water in front of me. The dogs only came closer as lights flashed in my direction. I held my hands closer to my body as I pulled myself up. My ankle hurt, so I limped forward towards the loud bustling streets. I emerged on a sidewalk after clearing a forest. People gave me looks as I walked out and onto the road, my eyes fixed on a flashing bright building with sounds coming out of it. I heard a loud screech to my side, and I turned to face a moving car slam into me instantly.

I opened my eyes on the bouncing soft floor of the asylum and screamed as I backed away into a corner of the room and sat still, crouched as I came back from certain death yet again. I breathed and screamed loudly as I tried to stay perfectly still. I didn't want to try to leave anymore, I convinced myself not to.


	80. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80: 180**

"Bluuue Teeeaam!" Dodson's voice sang to them one morning as everyone was asleep.

"Your team is cordially invited to a match of Beheaded Chicken in Arena 2!" Dodson told them.

"Nooooooo!" Sandy yelled tiredly.

"Dammit! _Dammit_!" Javier yelled from his tent.

"Fuck that shit, I'm sleeping." Jethro said from his tent.

The team got themselves together and stumbled quickly out of the tent as they strapped on their armor and wolfed down breakfast as they stumbled into the elevator with bedheads and dark, half-open eyes.

"Why are you wearing that?" Randy asked tiredly in the elevator to Sandy, who had glitter sprinkled all over her light brown hair and a plastic, shining star with a hole cut into it held against her eye to see through.

"I like it." She answered him as she looked at the footage of herself in the television while the hosts explained the new names of the glitter covered Blue Team member, STARr, and the bright orange firecracker, Inferno.

"You're going to look out of place, that's all I'm saying." Randy told her.

"We don't wear costumes anymore?" Sandy asked.

"Not after Sarah pointed out our material obsessions and gave Hoyt drugs. Now that I say that, it seemed like a weird day saying that just now." Cassidy told her.

Javier pointed to his bright orange hair. "And this stuff doesn't wash out, so…"

"Why did we even get in this elevator?" Jethro asked them.

"We don't have a single veteran with us, we're finished." Jethro pointed out.

"Listen guys," Randy told them as the elevator doors began to open. "We don't need those veterans in battle, they're not the ones fighting up close like us. They've been taking the glory for too long, now it's our time to shine. We're going to show everyone that we're the real stars of the Blue Team." Randy told them.

The Blue Team nodded and overlapped agreeing sentences as the doors open to a wall of dart guns that fired at them. Needles penetrated their skins and the entire team stumbled back.

"What the hell was that?" Javier asked them as he looked at his teammates.

"That speech didn't do shit for me, Randy!" Jethro yelled as he slumped tiredly against the elevator.

"Don't fall asleep now guys, get up, we have to fight!" Javier exclaimed.

"How are you not feeling this?" The Captain asked him as his eyes closed.

"Did the darts not hit you?" Cassidy asked him.

"No, they hit me. It hurt; I just thought I shouldn't be a bitch about it." Javier shrugged.

"Now's not the time to talk shit. You need to get us to our feet." Randy told him.

"Javier." Jethro asked.

"Yeah?"

"What did you put in the last batch?" He asked as Javier got him up and past the wall of darts.

"You said to put anything so I spit in it, poured out the rest of my Nuka-Cola, a stimpak, I think, some Jet, and some weird thing growing in the back corner of the camp." Javier answered.

"Remember that." Jethro told him.

"Uh, yeah."

"The Blue Team is not looking good so far." Bob announced.

"Yeah, let's hope they can finish the match before the concoction we brewed _kills_ them." Dave said grimly.

The team gasped as they looked up at the monitors.

"Just kidding, it's sleeping medicine." Bob told the crowd.

"_Or is it?_" Dave asked creepily.

The two hosts laughed together as they stared at the camera, high-fiving each other blindly as they laughed.

"Ow! That was too hard!" Bob rubbed his hand.

"You've got to be kidding me." Dave sighed as he turned to him.

Randy fell down at the weapon box and pulled out a gun as he grabbed onto the wall and pulled himself up.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Randy asked Javier.

"Yeah, I don't feel a thing." Javier told him.

"You're drooling." Randy pointed.

"Oh." Javier said as he wiped his mouth.

"We need to hurry." Randy said as he limped ahead.

Javier walked normally ahead of the shambling team to face the drugged Green Team. They had their weapons and pointed it at Javier as he walked up to face them.

"Javier…" Randy said weakly as he passed out of the ground behind him.

One-by-one, the team fell to the ground, staring up at Javier as he turned back to the Green Team.

"Uh…" Javier said awkwardly to them.

Javier's knees gave out, and he slammed into the ground.

"You idiot…" Randy mouthed.

"Wow, alright. I guess that concludes this match. Green Team wins!" Bob announced to the cheering crowd.

"Not trying this game again." Dodson said disappointingly.

The Green Team turned to their elevator to get their treatment as the Blue Team slept on the ground, immobilized. Javier's left eye opened and looked around the ground, and deemed it safe to get up. He walked over to Randy and pulled him into the elevator.

"Who's the idiot, now?" He asked the snoring Randy.

He dragged the team into the elevator as fast as he could. He heard another elevator door opening, so he ran over to Sandy as she slept on the ground and lifted her up. He turned quickly back to the elevator and stopped dead in his tracks as he faced the hazmat team.

"You people again." The Commander sighed as she stared at them.

"What do you want?" Javier asked as he struggled to lift up Sandy.

"We're here for a proposition." The Commander answered.

"I'm… kind of busy, can this wait?" Javier asked as Sandy snored lightly in his arms.

"No." She said sternly.

"Then make it quick please, my arms hurt and this new hairspray smells and makes me light-headed."

"As you know, there's an infection going around the water, and it's spread around the entire country—"

"I don't think you heard about the part that says my arms really hurt, so can we skip the backstory?" Javier grunted.

"We may work for Mister Dodson, sure, but that's only because he is our main financer for our work for the cure—"

Javier released Sandy and she flopped on the floor, relieving his arms.

"She probably didn't feel that." Javier exhaled.

"I'm giving you the option to leave this place." The Captain told him.

"What?"

"Your 'friend' that died the other day showed us that the infection no longer spreads after the host dies. The only thing we need is to get more samples of live test subjects so we can learn how the infection spreads and how to stop it. You give us the rest of your team here, and we'll work out a way for Dodson to let you go."

"You said you'd infect my team?" Javier asked unsettlingly.

"Well not the _whole_ team, we hope. We expect to be done with it in a matter of a few months. Whoever survives will leave with you."

"This is the only way we can know for sure. It's rare that someone can actually trap the infected in one place, that's why we rely so heavily on Mister Dodson. To get living specimens to research on is even rarer when they bleed out seconds later." The Captain explained.

"Uh… uhm…"

"Look, we promise not to harm you in any way, regardless of your decision. This is world-altering change, don't you want to help?"

Javier looked down at Sandy, and then at the hazmat team as he breathed in.

He grabbed her and lifted her up as he ran past the hazmat team, slamming them to the side as beeps went off in their technology. He rushed into the elevator and pressed the button.

"Stop! Let him go." The Commander of the team said as she walked over to the door of the closing elevator. Javier stared at her as she stopped in front of the door, looking at him as Javier held Sandy.

"Since you seem so content on staying, let me warn you…" The Commander said in a grim tone.

She lifted up her scanner and showed him the results.

"One of you is infected." She told Javier as he looked worriedly at Sandy, and then at the scanner.

"Our offer still stands." She told him as the doors closed, leaving Javier standing in the elevator full of unconscious bodies.

He shivered as he waited in the elevator to open so he could give the guards his weapons. He dragged the team out and moved Sandy to her tent.

"What happened?" Sandy asked Javier as he put her down.

"N-Nothing. Nothing." He repeated as Sandy closed her eyes again.

"Where is everyone?" Joe asked as he walked into camp.

"Uh… I need your help." Javier said to Joe as he held his waist tiredly.

He led him to the group of unconscious bodies and Joe ran over to them.

"What the hell happened?" Joe asked as he checked their pulses.

"A lot of stuff. Drugs and darts a-and stuff." Javier said awkwardly as he picked up Randy.

"How long have they been like this? Are they going to be awake for the ceremony?" Joe asked as he lifted up Monkey.

"They've been out for a half-hour, maybe. They'll wake up soon, I think. Sandy talked to me when I brought her back." Javier answered as they put the sleeping teammates to their tents.

"How are you awake?" Joe asked him.

"Uh, well. You see, I'm just… uh—"

"Chems?" Joe asked as he picked up the Captain.

"Yeah." Javier answered as he picked up Cassidy.

"You should stay away from that stuff, it'll ruin you."

"I don't need a lecture. They've helped me overcome my fears and I'm a man because of them."

"You know, Sarah had the same problem as you when she was younger, and she didn't need chems—"

"Well maybe I'm not like her, okay? Maybe she had something in her that helped her, but I don't. Believe me, I tried and tried to do something, but I couldn't even fight that last match, even with the chems! I know you're a big man of God, but stay out of my business, okay? I have enough to worry about!"

"Uh…" Joe held up his hands as they went over to the remaining players.

"Alright, I understand. Just tell me when they start to wake up." Joe told him.

"Sure, fine."

"And if they bring Sarah back, tell me about that, too."

"Okay."

Joe turned and placed the last of the sleeping bodies and left the camp, leaving Javier by himself with the sleeping team.

"Now I'm too awake to go back to bed. Dammit." Javier told himself as he sat at the center of the camp while everyone else snored around him.


	81. Chapter 81

**Chapter 81: Inferno**

"YOU IDIOT!" Randy yelled as his body woke up the next day.

"That's cool, insult me in your sleep, I'll remember that the next time you guys are drugged and forced to play a match hosted by a sharp dressed guy with a golden cane while I stay awake due to my drug use." Javier responded as he sat in Jethro's perch and ate fruit.

"W… when is that going to happen a second time?" Randy asked him tiredly.

"You never know."

"What happened?" Cassidy asked as she walked slowly out of her tent.

"You guys fell asleep in the middle of the match and we lost, obviously, and I had to drag you guys out of there. I think I might have pulled a muscle."

"Who cares? And what are you doing up there, that's Jethro's spot." Randy asked.

"Well excuse me for thinking I have enough merit to do what I want after barely saving you guys from the faceless squad."

"How? I saw you go out before I did."

"It's all part of the act. It was obviously believable, so thank you."

"Okay, you saved us, don't get a big head. If all goes well, we won't have to worry about any of this in a few days anyway."

"It's still a few days, right? How long have we been sleeping?" Sandy asked in a yawn.

"Just a day." Javier answered.

"My head's killing me." Sandy said in a groggy tone as she felt her forehead.

"U-Uh…" Javier stuttered as he looked at her.

"Oh! I dropped you!" Javier smiled.

"Why are you so happy for that?" The Captain asked.

"Because… that means good luck."

"Where does that mean good luck" Cassidy asked.

"Somewhere, it doesn't matter. We're all here and we're all generally okay." Javier told them.

"What the hell does 'generally' mean? And what are you doing up at my spot?" Jethro asked.

"I don't know what you mean by that. Do you want the definition of 'generally', or—"

"Get the hell down." Jethro commanded him.

"And I meant the definition." Jethro mumbled as he climbed up.

"Well since Sarah isn't back yet, we should talk to Joe about what his plans are going to be." Randy said as he turned away.

"Wait." Javier told him.

"Hear me out on this."

"What are you proposing?" Jethro asked him.

"We don't need Sarah and Joe anymore, we can escape without them. With Sarah probably dead from her surgery, we could do without Joe. He's either going to drive us into killing ourselves or turn us in so he could escape." Javier explained.

"What made you think of this? I thought you were the one who thought he 'had it good here'?" Cassidy asked him.

"Well I changed my mind-again. But not really…. well,—"

"Just tell us already!" Sandy exclaimed.

"Nice." Randy smiled as he high-fived his sister.

"Joe's insane, so let's just plan this thing ourselves, right? I mean, we're the biggest part of his plan, if we all bail out, we could take the time to get us out of here the right way."

"What do you guys think?" Javier asked.

"I'm still out. Ya'll people are crazier than Amir."

"Well than shut up and stay quiet while we talk! We could use without your useless comments!" Javier yelled.

"Wow, did everyone grow balls today?" Randy asked.

"Either you're with me or you're not. But this is just my opinion, but I don't think four people and a little girl is going to last with a crazy old religious dude." Javier told them.

"I tell you this for the last time, she—is—a—monkey-servant." Captain Cosmos told him.

"Does that title increase your chances of not dying? I don't think so." Javier told him.

"What do you think, Sandy?" Randy asked her.

"I trust him." Sandy nodded as she smiled at Javier, whose heart stopped beating for a moment as he stared back with a weak smile.

"Alright, Javier. We're in." Randy nodded.

"You're right. Sarah was our only key, without her, Joe has no idea what he's doing. I guess I'm in, too." Cassidy sighed.

"You aliens better make up your tiny minds soon." The Captain sighed.

"Alright. Cool. Let's just not tell Joe this, though." Javier nodded.

"Mum's a word." Sandy smiled.

"Uh… yeah." Javier nodded.

"I'm starving, let's get some food." Randy told them as they went to fetch meals.

"Aren't you going to get food?" The Captain asked Sandy as she sat down.

"I'm sorry, I'm not hungry right now, I feel awful." Sandy said as she held her head.

"See, that could have been me. You should invest in an airtight astro-helmet to prevent airbourne illnesses." The Captain told her.

"Have you eaten that can of soup I left for you guys yet?" Sandy asked them.

"Of course not, that food burns the skin of anyone who slurps it."

"That's a 'yes', I know it." Sandy smiled at him.

She began to break out in a cough that broke the smile of the Captain, and made Javier stare at her with wide eyes.

"Your bodily functions don't sound normal. You should do something about that."

"We can't. We don't have a doctor to tell me what's wrong anymore, and I don't even know the medicines we have or what they do." Sandy told him.

"Drink this. You aliens like its sweet taste." The Captain held out a bottle of Nuka-Cola.

"How do you know it tastes sweet?" Sandy asked with a smile.

The Captain was silent.

"Third party research."

"I guess I believe you." Sandy told him as she took the bottle.

Javier stared uneasily at Sandy from across the camp, taking a mental picture of her symptoms as he exhaled nervously. His fingers tapped against the wall as he stared more at her, thinking to himself on how he was going to settle the problem.

I spent a day in the soft room in the asylum, slowly growing unsettled by the camera in the room. I paced around the room for hours, as there wasn't anything to do, they didn't even feed me. I took to staring at it until I fell asleep. It was dismal, but I finally closed my eyes to the muffled yells from the other cells. I opened my eyes the next morning, even though sleeping was more entertaining than walking on something close to a pillow. I opened them slowly, realizing I was already vertical. I looked at myself and realized I was tied to a cross.

"How are you, sweetie? Good?" Dodson asked me.

"Where…"

"Shh-shh… it's okay. You've had quite the problem with that little noggin of yours and our surgeons fixed that up for you, only because I owed your friend a favor." Dodson said easily as I opened my eyes more.

"You're still on medication, although it might not be mine, but that's a different story." Dodson shook his head as he held onto his golden cane.

"Why am I tied to this?" I asked with no effort in my voice at all.

"I thought you of all people would know."

"Know what?"

"Look, don't play stupid with me, Marston, it's not cute. Just tell me why you're here, okay?"

"Tell you 'why I'm here'? You kidnapped me and brought me here! And now you're doing it a second time!"

"Did I do that because _you_ wanted me to?"

I stared back at the man with my brow raised.

"W-What the shit are you talking about?!"

"Alright Sarah, since you're not going to cooperate on a touchy subject such as that, let me ask you a different question."

"Tell me about Amir." Dodson asked gently.

"He _was_ giving me brain surgery until this stuff happened!"

"That's not what I meant, see, I know all about your Legion of rapists and murderers, and now I'm giving you a taste of your own medicine! So tell me what I want to know or I'm going to have to get a little rough, and I know how much you people like it rough." Dodson smiled.

"I-I honestly have no idea what the fuck you're talking about at this point."

"How many of them have weaseled their way into my arena?"

"How many of _what_?"

"The one's like your old buddy Amir! How many of them snuck by my radar?"

"You're obviously making me out to be something I'm not, and I'm still weak from whatever it is you gave me, so please tell me what's going on!"

"Are there dozens? Two? Three?"

"Okay, you obviously ignored what I said previously when I said I didn't know, so I'll have to tell you again, I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING TO ME!"

"Do you?" Dodson raised an eyebrow.

I was once against silent, dumfounded by this conversation.

"Okay…CAN SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE? I'M BEING INTERROGATED BY A CLUELESS IDIOT!"

"Well your last dosage gave me the same response, just one not as harsh as this one." Dodson fake sobbed.

"You gave me that truth-telling drug again?" I asked him.

"No, Sarah. 'Truth-telling- drug' is a stupid name for it."

"Alright Marston, you can go." Dodson said as he turned around.

"But try to plan anything while you're here and I won't use ropes to put you up there next time." Dodson threatened.

I was cut down shortly after and escorted to the elevator back down to the Steamworks, where the players roamed around. I looked around at the people with a smile as I weakly walked back to the camp.

I shambled slowly into the camp as the faces of the team lit up.

"Hey, guys! Sarah's back!" Sandy smiled as she got up.

The team huddled around me as they congratulated me. Only Javier stayed where he stood, and smiled weakly as he stared at the ground.

"Did they get that worm out of your head?" Sandy asked.

"I don't think you fully understood what happened to me." I smiled at her.

"You couldn't have picked a better time to show up." Cassidy told me as she patted my back.

"Ah!" I winced.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Cassidy told me.

"It's fine." I told her as I looked down at my gray arms as dry, bloody holes covered my torso and arms.

"What happened to me?" I asked them.

"It was Amir. He was a spy." Randy told me.

"What was he doing to me?"

"Shovin' you full of whatever those drugs were. They weren't mine, I've been proven already." Jethro told me.

"That's a crazy scar you got there." Cassidy told me as she looked at my head.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

"Everything does." I answered.

"Are you okay for the ceremony?" Randy asked.

"I didn't miss it?"

"Nope. You've got a day to spare."

"Great, then I'm onboard." I nodded.

"Good, and it's great your back because we were—"

"Sarah?" Joe asked as he walked into the base.

"I thought I saw you walking through the crowd!" Joe smiled as he hugged me.

"Do you know what Mister Dodson did to help you?" Sandy asked.

"He fixed me up, alright, but… he's worried about something." I told them.

"Amir probably told him our plans, we should reschedule." Javier told us.

"Impossible, he's usually in his office and he slept loudly. I would have noticed if he stopped snoring." Cassidy said.

"That's weird." Randy told her.

"How is that weird?"

"Cassidy's a spy!" Randy yelled.

"What are you talking about, I—"

"Cassidy's a spy!" Randy called out.

"What happened to Amir?" I asked them.

The team was silent for a moment, and looked at each other. They then looked at me, and I nodded back, realizing what they were trying to say to me. I sighed deeply and shook my head.

"We burned him." Sandy told me.

"That's not what I thought happened to him, so thank you… I guess."

"There's always a chance for everything. We can't factor out all these possibilities when so much is on the line." Javier argued.

"Even if he does know, Sarah would realize it when she goes to the ceremony before us." Joe told Javier.

"And how is she supposed to warn us if they _are_ waiting for us?"

Joe waited for a moment, and scratched the back of his head.

"I'll sneak myself into the bleachers where people will be watching the event. If I'm spotted, I can always hide in the crowd." Joe told us.

"Should _you_ really be the one sneaking around? We have a lot of able-bodied people that can do it." Randy told him.

"_I'll do it_." Joe said sternly to him.

"You let me worry about that. You can get the weapons to the team and have them cover the exits while I oversee the arena before the ceremony." Joe told him.

"That's not a smart idea; I'm going to say it now." Javier told Joe.

"They cover the entrances to the seating area with guards. They're not going to let you up the stairs to the arena." Javier explained.

"I told you to let me worry about it—"

"We're not going to put all this faith into you, Joe! You need to look at yourself, because you can't do these things! It's all on us!" Javier yelled.

Joe stared back at Javier as he jumped down from the perch.

"If no one's going to say it, then _I_ will. _We don't trust you_, even if we did, we won't trust an old man to do this kind of thing!" Javier argued.

"You have no idea what I can do!" Joe argued back.

"'_Could'_ do! You _could_ do these things, but you obviously can't anymore! We don't need leaders who can barely walk around and would sacrifice all of us to get both of you out of here! We're not expendable fighters that you throw at the bad guys, we're people and we have a voice in this. You're not bossing us around because of what you did before you came here!"

"He's been like that recently…" Randy said quietly to Joe.

"And what do you people think of this?" Joe asked the team.

They all remained quiet, refusing to make eye contact with him as he scanned the crowd, ending on me. I looked down at the ground and turned my head away from him.

"Well I'll show you what I can still do." Joe told us as he stormed out of the camp.

"You have any other orders for us, Sarah? Want us to charge at Dodson's guards with a shiv while you and Joe run out the back?" Javier asked me sarcastically.

"No." I answered quietly.

"Good. From now on, we aren't going to let them tell us what to do. We make our own decisions." Javier told the rest of the team as he went back up to the perch.

"I'll just sit down here." Jethro said as he sat in front of his tent.

"Don't bother." Javier said as he got down and walked away from the camp.

"I'm… just gonna get something to eat." I told everyone as I went to the bag of stolen food and took a can out.

Joe stomped through the crowd near the Great Arena, fixing his glasses as he squinted at the wall to the annex.

"Prophet Joseph!" A person called to him through the crowd.

Joe didn't hear the call, so the person called again. He turned out of the crowd and found himself in front of the Red Team base.

"Prophet Joseph, you won't believe it!" A young girl from the team smiled at him.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"Your prayers worked! Karen is healed! She's all better!" The girl smiled with giddy.

Joe sighed hard and looked at the ground. 'Karen', he thought to himself. Her name was so close to Carrie's. It couldn't have been a coincidence; he refused to think that way.

"Let me see her." Joe told the girl.

She led him into the tent, where Sampson stared out of one eye at Joe. His left eye was shut, like he was asleep. Sampson breathed out of the corner of his mouth, the left side shut. His right hand made a fist, while the left stayed open. Joe walked past him as the girls led him to Karen, who sat down in a circle of her teammates. Joe gave a glance at Kat as she looked at him with no expression.

"This is the Prophet. He's the one who healed you." The girl told Karen.

The young girl ran up to Joe and hugged him as hard as she could. He bent down to her level and looked at her face. Color was back to her skin and she smiled, showing all her teeth as she hugged Joe. She released herself from him and continued to smile. She had blue eyes and brown hair, cut short, exactly like Carrie's. Joe's mouth opened as she looked at him.

"Thank you." Karen told him.

Joe looked at her and hugged her again, looking at the ground.

"You're welcome." He said quietly to her.

He let go and she turned around and ran to the corner as she dug something out of a bag. She ran back over to Joe and held out food and water.

"I want you to have this." Karen told Joe.

Joe was a skinny man, now. His youth gave him muscle and weight but has since faded away with the months underground. Food was one thing Joe enjoyed having since he was younger. As it grew scarce in the arena, he found himself eating less and less. Food was valuable, especially to him, and now it was being offered to him. He looked at her smiling face as she held out a can of pork n' beans and water to him. As much as he wanted it, his mind and heart refused it. Joe felt like he was taking food from his own daughter to put into his stomach, and it made his body hurt just thinking of it.

"No… I want you to keep it. You need it more than I do." Joe told her.

Her smile went away and she stared at the food, as if something was wrong with it, as if it weren't enough.

"Okay." Karen told him.

"I want you all to be careful when fighting. I can't save everyone down here; some people are too far gone." Joe said, and image of Dodson sitting in the back of his mind.

Joe signaled Kat to meet him outside. The girls said gleeful goodbyes Joe as he left with Kat.

"So you gave her antibiotics?" Joe asked her.

"No, I didn't. I just got them today, but she was already feeling better yesterday. We didn't give her a thing except food and water." Kat told him, her voice surprised to tell him the news.

"Well hold onto them. People are getting sick around here and soon that stuff's going to be more valuable than food." Joe said as he pointed to the bottle in Kat's hands.

"Even though you probably didn't do anything, I want to say thank you. Not many people would even come around here to help us. Sampson's been tired lately and he's been weak since he had the seizure." Kat explained.

"Well, you're welcome." Joe told her.

"I've been meaning to ask you something, too."

"What do you need?"

"Sarah's filled me in on your plan at the ceremony tomorrow, I'm going to be giving you guys your weapons in the elevator."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they'll be in the elevator at the eastern entrance to the Great Arena."

"How are you going to sneak the weapons in?"

"I have my ways." Kat smiled.

"I'm going to be giving you guys a bird's eye view from the audience's bleachers before the ceremony. Do you have any tips on sneaking in there?"

"I usually use the vents in the elevator. They're above the elevator, but you have to move quick after you tell it to go up, you need to get into them at the perfect moment, or… you know…"

"I get it. Thanks for the help. Good luck tomorrow."

"You too."

Joe left the camp and went into the crowd, unknowingly walking past Javier as he walked past him and went to the elevator up to Dodson's office.

Javier walked in as Dodson screwed a golden eagle onto the top of his cane.

"Why the hell did they make the wings so sharp?" He asked himself as he sliced his finger on the wing and sucked on the wound.

Javier loudly cleared his throat as he looked at Dodson.

"Oh, hi! What's your new nickname? Oh, yeah, Inferno. How can I help you, Inferno?" Dodson asked him.

"I need to speak to your hazmat team." Javier told him.

"Oooh! No nonsense, now, huh? Good for you, facing your demons. Can I ask you what for?"

"This is between me and them."

"Okay. You can talk to them, but be warned; talking to them will put you to sleep." Dodson nodded as he gave the guards to okay to open the door into the dining hall where they lead him through doors to a lab where people worked silently, examining things in microscopes and printing x-rays as their yellow suits were hung on a wall to the left side of the room.

"You have a visitor." One of the guards said to the team as Javier walked in.

A woman walked up to Javier. She had short, brown hair that went to the side. She had brown eyes and smiled as she looked at Javier.

"Have you reconsidered my offer?" She asked.

"Yes."


	82. Chapter 82

**Chapter 82: Another Day Saved!**

The day passed on to the next as they team got rest and finished their hearty meals. We all exercised before and after we woke up harshly, as Hoyt and Michelle had done for us. We sparred like we never fought each other before, all diving to the side and imitating gunfire with finger pistols. Randy and Jethro didn't take it seriously, and they got into a savage battle complete with gun noises and dragons that revived each other when they got shot.

We didn't say anything to each other; we just knew what to do. We all could tell we were nervous, but we just ignored it and continued to wake ourselves up. I looked at my arms as tiny scabs covered them, wondering what had happened. Joe walked into the camp as we ate our breakfast.

"Kat's getting the weapons to the eastern elevator after the ceremony starts." Joe said as he nodded at me.

"Are you ready?" I asked Joe.

"Yeah. If I see anything, I'll you guys know before you get into the elevator." Joe said to us.

"Are you going to reconsider?" Joe asked Jethro.

"Nope."

"Alright. Good luck guys." Joe nodded as he walked to the arena.

Joe spotted Kat waiting around the elevator doors, eyeing the two guards that covered it. Joe moved over to Kat, not trying to act suspicious at all.

"Fancy seeing _you_ here." Joe said as he walked over to Kat.

"We're going to wait here until they call the vets over, and we'll go into the vent together. We'll have to split up after we get in so I can get the guns from the armory and so you can sneak into the bleachers." Kat informed him.

"Got it."

Back at the camp, we stood around the fire as it crackled around us.

"Hope they get me my favorite gun." Randy said.

"Doubt it very much, Randy." Jethro told him.

"This might be the last time we sit here." Sandy told the Captain as they watched the fire.

"Maybe."

"What are you going to do after you get out of here?"

"Return to the base." He responded.

"And do what?"

"Hand Command my resignation."

"Why, Cappy?" Monkey asked.

"Say my name right, already." The Captain said under his breath.

"I don't want to do this anymore, all this fighting. This world can't be saved by me, it must be someone else. Someone more pure at heart must continue my task."'

"So what would I call you after you resign?"

"Hank."

"Well, it's going to be nice to meet you, Hank." Sandy smiled as she held out her hand.

"It will be nice to meet you, too." The Captain smiled as he used his new ability of shaking hands with people.

"Be careful today, I don't want you to get hurt." The Captain told her.

"Aye-aye, Cappy—"

"Wasn't talking to you, servant." The Captain told her.

Across the fire, Randy spotted the two, and leaned over to Javier as he stared into the fire, as if he were taken over by it.

"He's gotta be gay." Randy whispered to Javier as he continued his trance.

"Javier?" Randy asked him.

Javier continued to stare at the fire.

"Javier? Hellooo?"

"Huh?" Javier asked as he broke off the trance.

"Never mind." Randy sighed as he drank some Nuka-Cola.

"Shouldn't we have a speech, or something?" Jethro asked.

"I got this." Cassidy said as he got up and stood over the fire, taking the attention of everyone.

"I think it's my turn to be heard." Cassidy told the team.

"Since I first met you—"

The television screen turned on to Dodson's face, and everyone looked at it instantly.

"Please welcome all the veterans of the arena to the Great Arena to be celebrated in the Veteran's Ceremony." Dodson announced.

"Well, this is it." I said as they team got up.

"I—wait—" Cassidy stammered as everyone left the fire.

"Be careful, guys." I said as I walked out of the camp.

Randy nodded as everyone put on their armors.

"This is it, Joe." Kat told him as they heard the call.

They quickly waked to the guards, and they studied the two's quick entrance.

"You two are vets?" A guard asked.

"Hmm." A guard giggled gently.

The two walked into the elevator, passing the guards as they waited for the rest of the veterans to approach. Kat pointed to a door in the elevator above them, and he boosted her up to it silently so they wouldn't alert the guards. Kat slid open the panel and climbed onto the top of the elevator, looking down at Joe. She held out her small hand, and Joe jumped up to grab it. Kat yanked hard on his hand as he pulled himself up, the two grunting as they got up to the top. They heard voices coming from below them, and they quickly closed the panel below them. They both stared up at the machines powering the elevator in the shaft. Kat pointed out a small air vent and Joe nodded at it. They heard voices talking below them, and felt the elevator start up at their feet. They quickly eyed the vent as the elevator moved slowly towards it. Joe boosted Kat up to the vent and she crawled inside.

"C'mon." She whispered as the elevator approached the vent hole.

Joe jumped inside as the elevator passed by the vent. Kat pulled Joe into the small vent as they breathed heavily.

"Good work, now follow me." Kat told him as they crawled forward in the vent.

"What's that smell?" Joe asked her.

"It's the steam. We're above the Steamworks now."

"That's steam?" Joe asked as he sniffed it.

"How long have you been using these?" Joe asked her as they crawled forward in a single-file line.

"A long while, and…"

Kat stopped.

"What?" Joe asked her.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but your first match? I opened that elevator for you to escape, and you sure didn't seem like a 'Prophet' to me. Just saying."

"Well you didn't know what happened before that. I was struck by lightning right before I was shot and it saved me."

"Right, and I'm sure that Jesus allowed me to open that door for you." Kat said skeptically.

"Believe what you want, I haven't died yet."

"Alright, this is where we part ways. I'm going left; you take the right and then another right." Kat told him as she pointed down the vent as she went into the left vent.

"Good luck." Joe told her.

"Thanks. Be careful."

"I will." Joe said as he crawled ahead.

The elevator doors opened and I walked with the other veterans through to the Great Arena, where Dodson stood on a stage with two guards standing beside him. I figured the team could handle them. The crowd cheered as we walked out to the stage, facing Dodson.

"Welcome our esteemed combat veterans! You have showed us that if you fight a lot of people, good stuff happens! And this is one of them!" Dodson announced on the stage, only a few feet from us.

I looked around the crowd and noticed that someone eyed me. It was Jinzu in his yellow and black-striped armor, standing proudly as he glared me down. I turned away from him and continued to look around. I spotted the White Team sniper, looking at Dodson. He turned to me, and I quickly turned away, not wanting another enemy to stare me down.

Meanwhile, Kat was crawling out of the vent and into the armory, where she looked at piles and piles of stockpiled weapons. She grabbed everything that she thought looked powerful, laser rifles, plasma pistols, shotguns, Chinese swords and assault rifles and their corresponding ammo and put them into two duffle bags that she lugged through the vent with her as she smiled at all the guns.

"This is gonna be awesome." Kat smiled.

Joe crawled out of his vent and looked through a hallway, loud cheers from the audience coming through the wall ahead. He looked around to make sure the coast was clear and he ran to the noise.

The Blue team got their armor together and stood by the fire as they waited for everyone to get ready.

Randy wore sleeveless Kevlar, exposing the tattoos on his arms. He put a blue and black baseball cap on his head and tied two holsters to his hips. The Captain cleared some smudge from his helmet, and then gave the cloth to Monkey to do the same in her new Blue suit. Javier scratched his orange hair angrily, trying to remove the color as he put on leather armor and elbow pads with orange and blue stripes coming down them. Cassidy wore regular clothes and no one really cared what she wore. At the end was Sandy, glitter falling off of her blonde hair as she put reflective tape on her vest and hoodie. She fastened the star eye patch on her head and nodded to herself with a smile.

"Everyone ready?" Randy asked them.

"No," Cassidy said as she tied her shoes. "I just need to—"

"Alright, let's get moving then." Randy told the team as they left the camp. "Hold down the fort, Jethro."

"Got it." Jethro said as he read a comic book on his perch.

"Throughout the months, these few warriors have proven that they alone have what it takes to continue the arena legacy, and one day, one of these people can earn themselves a spot at the top!" Dodson announced at the Great Arena.

I heard someone scoff behind me. I turned around to see Augustus moving past me so he could get a better look at Dodson.

The Blue Team walked to the elevators where the two guards stood standing near the elevator door.

"I got this." Sandy told them as she ran quickly into a passerby in front of the two men.

"You of all people have got a lot of nerve running into me!" Sandy yelled at the random person.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The person asked as he pushed Sandy away from him.

"You stole all our food! I should kill you for that!" Sandy yelled at him.

"Fucking try it!" The man pulled out a shiv and startled Sandy as he held it to her.

The two guards ran at the man and tackled him to the ground, one holding him in place while the other searched him.

"No weapons!" The guard yelled at the man.

Sandy turned around and ran to the elevator where everyone was waiting for her.

"Nice work, sis." Randy told her.

The team heard a tap on the top of the elevator as they pressed the button. The panel slid open and the two duffle bags dropped down to the team.

"Oh, sweet!" Javier smiled as he searched through them.

Kat smiled from inside the vent as the elevator went past her. She heard a bump in the vent come from behind her, and she turned to only see herself get grabbed.

"And it turns out someone has earned themselves a spot at the top!" Dodson told the arena as the crowd quieted down to hear what he had to say.

"This person has done this arena a great service and has pointed out a scary fact about this area and its new inhabitants; _Caesar's Legion_."

The crowd gasped and grew even quieter as they heard this news.

"That's right, folks. Caesar's Legion has made it into our beautiful arena. What for? No idea! But this is a time for celebration, and for that, we will welcome our esteemed finder of evil!" Dodson said as a man walked from behind the stage.

"Please give a round of applause for the man of the hour, Leonard Newman!"

The crowd went wild as the man walked out onto the stage and waved at the audience with a blank facial expression. I squinted hard to see that the man was Lennie.

"What the?!"

The elevator doors opened behind us, and the Blue Team poured into the arena with their weapons, quickly assessing the situation.

"Cover the exits! Don't let him escape!" Randy yelled the team split up and covered the elevator exits.

"Oh… and it sees, uh, we will be having an honorary match with the veterans to celebrate our victory over the hordes of Legion." Dodson said nervously on the microphone as his guards continued to guard Dodson.

"Sarah! Weapons!" Cassidy yelled as she tossed over the duffle bag from her covering spot near the elevator.

The bag landed next to me, full of ammunition and spare pistols. I looked down at it as I heard slashing of metal next to me.

Jinzu held out a samurai sword at me and shouted into the air.

"FOR THE GLORY OF CAESAR! WE WILL BE REBORN!"

"Ah, shit." I mumbled.

He swung down the sword at me as I grabbed a weapon and had no time to turn to him and escape his rush. I closed my eyes as the sword grinded against the metal cuffs of the White Team's sniper. He parried the attack and punched Jinzu in the face as he stood in front of me.

The sniper pulled off his mask and turned to me.

"You need to start fighting now, Sarah." The face of Ulysses told me.

"Ava Caesar!" Augustus yelled as he pulled out a long, elegant machete from his armor and slashed it down at Ulysses.

Joe burst through the door above us and looked through the crowd of Dodson's guards, lining Joe up with weapons as he stared at them.

I took a sword out of the bag and slashed it down at Jinzu as he deflected it from his back. He took his feet and kicked me in the stomach as he got up, slamming the sword down at me as he leapt to his feet. I held the sword horizontally at him, and pushed him off of me as Lennie and Mister Dodson watched from the stage.

"Sarah?" Sandy called for me.

"We've got this, just cover the exits!" I called to her as I slashed the sword at Jinzu.

He parried the sword above our heads and punched me in the face. I stumbled back as he came in with a jab. I jumped back to dodge the sword and jumped back forward to a kick to stomach and a quick slash downwards where he narrowly blocked it. I held my weight down on the sword at Jinzu's neck as he tried to push my weight off of him. We grunted as I overshadowed him, and the sword came down near his skin. Jinzu yelled as he moved the swords away from him, throwing mine into the dirt next to me and sending me backwards. He walked towards me and pumped the handle of the sword, sending an electric current down the blade's conductive metal. I recognized the sword as I ran over to my sword and pulled on it. It was stuck in the ground, lodged in between two underground boulders. I worriedly looked up at Jinzu as he smiled at me and swung his sword at me.

I ducked the slash that came from Jinzu and stepped back as he continued to slash and stab at me. I dodged it, tiring us out as his sword only met with the air. His face grew angrier, and he yelled as he slashed his sword downward. I moved to the left and hooked a punch at Jinzu's cheek. I set him up for a kick to the head that sent him down into the ground. I picked his sword up from the ground as he grabbed my ankle and pulled it out from under me. I landed on my back as Jinzu got up and held onto his right wrist. He pulled a pump on his bracers and a string of throwing stars popped out and started to spin in circles wildly, making a buzzing sound.

He slammed his arm down onto my sword as he jammed the spinning blades at the blade, sparking off and chipping away the metal of the sword.

"Ulysses!" I called to him.

Ulysses threw a punch at Augustus and grabbed the machete as he turned to me. He ran over and kicked Jinzu off of me as Augustus ran after him and grabbed him from behind and threw him into the ground and began punching Ulysses across the face.

I got up to my feet as Jinzu breathed heavily on a rock and ran at me with his gauntlet of blades. I swung the sword down at him as he pushed his arm at me. I moved the locked sword around as it got caught with the blades again. I shoved Jinzu's arm away as I slammed the sword forward into the blades. The sword was ripped from my hands and it flew off to the side, stabbing Augustus through the chest as he punched Ulysses. Augustus stared blankly at the sword's handle as he stood up from Ulysses. Jinzu and I watched as Ulysses got up from the ground and grabbed the sword's handle and sent electricity into the sword, and into Augustus. He screamed as the electricity cooked his skin instantly. Ulysses glared angrily into his eyes as he parted the sword out of his skin and severed his body. Ulysses threw me the machete and I caught it and hacked a bit into Jinzu's neck, sending him into the ground.

"Wow! W-What a match!" Mister Dodson said nervously.

Ulysses walked over to him and grabbed his golden cane and slashed the eagle's wing across his face, shooting blood off to the side as Dodson screamed and fell.

His guards lifted their weapons at Ulysses and were shot instantly by the Blue Team, who nodded at me.

"Hi guys. Didn't expect you to do this today, I kind of had a plan and everything." Lennie told us.

"You should have known better." Ulysses told him as he looked at the golden cane.

"This is a good weapon." Ulysses said as he held the cane in his hands.

"You…" Jinzu rasped out as he got to his feet. "Will never defeat me."

"Shut up." Ulysses said as he threw his sword into Jinzu's stomach and impaled him into the ground.

We looked at Ulysses and his new golden weapon as Dodson got up and ran to the elevator door holding his bleed face.

"Stop him!" I yelled as an energy blast came from behind me and hit Dodson, sending him onto the ground a few feet away from the Captain's smoking blaster.

"And yet another day saved thanks to Captain Cosmos and his mediocre monkey-servant!" The Captain smiled valiantly as he looked up at the crowd.

"Good work, everyone. Let's get ourselves situated and get rid of the rest of Dodson's guards." I said as Ulysses and Lennie walked with me to the elevator doors where the Blue Team nodded and celebrated their victory.

"The victory is not yet confirmed. Monkey, will you do the honors?" The Captain asked his servant as she held her incapacitation blaster.

"Yes, sir, Cappy!" Monkey smiled at the Captain as he smiled back.

"Good, let's—"

A gunshot rang out in the arena behind me as I turned around to see what happened. The team turned with me as the Captain looked over at Dodson as he held a smoking revolver aimed at him, drool dripping down the suited man's mouth. The Captain breathed heavily and looked down at himself and found nothing on his body. He felt something slide off his shoulders as Monkey fell to the ground.

The team froze in fear as they all watched the center of the arena, where The Captain looked down at Monkey.

"No… no, no, no." The Captain exhaled as he knelt down to Monkey as she cried in pain.

"No, no, you're fine, you're fine, you're okay." He told her as she breathed weakly in agony.

The Captain put pressure on her wound as blood oozed out from her tiny stomach. Monkey held up her arms to the Captain and grabbed onto him tightly as tears rolled down her eyes.

"I know you're in pain, I know… I know." The Captain whispered to her as he sobbed.

Monkey grinded her teeth as her soft breaths ceased.

The Captain's arms shook as everyone surrounded him. His neck shook quickly and he breathed in heavily and quickly as Monkey's arms dropped and her face froze. The Captain breathed quickly and gasped for air as he looked at her and slowly lifted up his bloody hands from her. His eyes were wide open, his face scared and his whole body shivering.

He then slowly looked up at Dodson as he held the gun still, aimed perfectly at the Captain as the Mesmetron rattled his brain.

The Captain stood up from Monkey and walked across the arena quickly to Dodson, his eyes burning with rage as Dodson's gun slowly aimed to the Captain. As Dodson aimed it up at the Captain's head, he fired a shot from his blaster, rendering Dodson immobile. The Captain threw his gun to the side and walked over to Dodson as his neck twitched.

The Captain's face stricken with pure anger as he pulled off his glass helmet from his face and smashed it against Dodson's head, shattering it and sending glass pieces everywhere. Dodson shouted out in pain as his face blew off to the side. He held the gun up at The Captain still as he tried to crawl away from him, pieces of glass stabbed into his head. The Captain swatted the gun away as Dodson continued to crawl backwards. Dodson lifted the gun again at the Captain and he grabbed his arm and twisted the foundation of bone, snapping his arm on the spot. Dodson screamed out above into the audience as they quieted down to complete silence. The Captain stomped down at Dodson's face with his boot and dragged him back to the center of the arena where everyone could look at him.

"T-Talk about this!" Dodson begged as he cried.

The Captain grasped onto Dodson's neck and backhanded it, sending his face back onto the broken glass. The Captain got on top of him and sent a hammer of a punch into Dodson's face, cracking his neck as it flew off to the side. The Captain took a piece of glass off the ground and held Dodson's mouth open with his left hand. He forced his mouth open and slammed the glass shard into his mouth and closed it, following up with a haymaker to his mouth. The glass shards broke up inside his mouth and went down his throat as his mouth bleed. The Captain punched his head, again, and again. Dodson's arms dropped and the Captain didn't care, he punched again and again until the glass shards cut apart his throat. He screamed as he grabbed his head and punched it, ripping off Dodson's perfect hair as the Captain gripped onto it for punching. The Captain roared like an animal as his punches made Dodson look unrecognizable. His lips swelled up and contusions swelled all throughout his already dead face as his eyes closed completely shut and blood seeped out of his mouth. The Captain beat on him still, up until he tired himself and thought he was done. He stood up from the body and stared at up at the blinding lights of the audience as blood dripped down off his gloves.

"Please, don't." Joe begged the line of guards as their aimed their weaponry at him above the arena.

"Don't shoot, boys. Get down there." A voice said to them from the darkness.

The guards put down their weapons and ran past Joe as he looked around the arena bleachers.

Every single one of the seats were empty, and they had been for a long time. Cobwebs covered the dark seating area as Joe looked up at a large speaker with cheers and whistles of people coming from it on repeat. Joe shook his head as he looked down at the Great Arena below him, where he spotted Dodson's body crashed against the center of the arena as the Captain stared at the Blue Team.

"You can thank me if you want." The voice said to Joe from the darkness.

"Who's there?" Joe asked.

Kat was dragged out of the vent, kicking and screaming as a bag was tied tight around her head. The bag was released from her, and she looked at a group of guards surrounding her, and in the center, the man in the orange suit.

"Howdy, pumpkin." Mister Dodson smiled at Kat.

Above the Great Arena the figure stepped out of the darkness, and smiled at Joe.

"Surprised?" Mister Dodson asked him.

"But…"

Joe shook his head at Dodson as Dodson nodded back.

"You see, you might think you have this whole operation understood, but obviously, you're wrong. I take all you murderers and vigilantes such as yourself down there to fight, of course. But you know what I do next? I get my best buddy Marge to take the winner and do whatever the hell she wants with them, and that thing is usually gathering up more people to kill each other down there. That's our deal, Joseph. It's always been a game, only now you know who's really playing it."

"Come with me." Dodson instructed him as he exited out through a door above the bleachers.

Joe looked at him, and then down at the arena as a different Mister Dodson died at the center, next to a small child. They walked outside to the surface with the moon lifted above their heads.

"It's not night, it's morning." Joe told Mister Dodson as he looked up at the sky.

"I guess you've been here so long you don't even know when the sun rises anymore. Sorry about that." Dodson told him.

"Why am I here?" Joe asked.

"I'm letting you go, Joseph. Isn't that what you want?"

The two looked at each other.

"Well? C'mon, let's get on with it." Dodson egged.

Joe stared at him.

"I knew it. I had you pegged, Joey. Let me read your mind here. In your fantasy, you think_ I'm _the bad guy and you want to single-handedly take my whole operation down and you know you can't do that without help from your friends. Now, I hope you're having second thoughts now that you realized you've been brought here for murdering people all across the country!"

"Down there, you think you're a 'prophet of God', blessed by the Lord to sort out his dirty laundry, but to everyone else in the world, you're the bad guy! All you and your friends have ever done were murder and pillage in some name of a quest that somehow you think will be worth it in the end!" Dodson continued.

"You really think that's how your current expedition across the country will end? I've already drugged your friend Ulysses, and he's told me everything. He's been taking advantage of you people to settle a debt he has with Caesar's Legion! I mean really? A bomb that takes out all life on Earth? How is anyone _that_ stupid to believe that?"

"You don't know our circumstances at the time. He saved us, he' smart, and he has a plan." Joe told him.

"He's not smart, Joseph, you're just dumber than he is. And now, it's going to cost you your friends' lives!"

"No. You're just trying to manipulate me." Joe told him.

"I don't need to! You're a thug that no one's going to miss, and better yet, you're psychotic in thinking that God will forgive you for leading people to death!"

"I…I… how can—"

"Guard." Dodson called for as Joe turned around to a knockout rifle butt.

"I really don't like it when people blather." He said as his servant gave him a fresh cup of coffee to drink.

We looked at the center of the arena as the Captain breathed out heavily in anger, staring all around at the people around him. We were all shocked, but it was Sandy that stared at the Captain in pure surprise. She and she alone knew the impact of what happened to him, and her stomach sank when she realized the change in Cosmos.

We heard static from the television sets as they clicked on, one by one. We stared up at the screens with question.

"Ha-ha-ha! You fell for the old fake Dodson ploy!" Mister Dodson laughed on the screen. "I knew I had a feeling about this, and from the looks of what you did to that guy there, I was right!" He laughed.

"No." I said as I looked up at his face.

"Since you little crazies are upset with your time-out, I'm going to have to declare martial law throughout the arena until everyone calms down. Ho-hoo! That was fun to watch!"

I felt a sharp pain in my neck and I grabbed the source. I ripped out a dart from my neck and looked at it tiredly. I looked around the team as they fell over to the ground, limp and useless with the darts in their skin. I turned over to Javier as he stared apologetically at the team.

"I'm sorry, guys." He told us.

I stared in confusion at him as my knees gave out and I fell to the ground, staring up at the center of the arena, helpless and immobile.

The hazmat team walked away with Javier as they picked up the Blue Team's bodies and tested their skin with their scanners. I breathed calmly as I stared at Captain Cosmos, who stared down at Monkey with a dart in his neck. He ripped it out and turned around to a member of the hazmat team as he reloaded another shot into his tranquilizer. The Captain walked slowly to him and smacked his head with his hands and threw him into the ground.

He turned around to see another hazmat scanning Monkey.

"Negative." He said into his radio.

"Stay away from her…" The Captain growled weakly as he walked over and tackled the hazmat to the ground.

"He's not going down!" The hazmat said as he fired a dart into the Captain.

The Captain held the hazmat's head and slammed it down into the ground over and over as the entire team turned to him and fired their darts into his back. The Captain calmed down and fell off of the man, unconscious.

I stared weakly at him as a hazmat down walked over to me and injected a needle into me, making me blind and tired.


	83. Chapter 83

**Chapter 83: Nothing Left**

I awoke momentarily in a lab surrounded by the hazmat team as they dragged the Blue Team into their separate areas. I spotted Randy being dragged away by the hazmat teams, kicking and shouting.

"Get the hell off of me! You have no right to do this to me!" He shouted at them as the Commander stood next to Javier.

"You don't have to watch this, you know." She told him.

"And go back to what's left of my team? I don't think so, I've got nowhere to go now, just… just get me out of this place, I never want to come back." Javier told her.

"We'll start arranging." The Commander told him.

They brought my weakened body into another lab and closed the door shut as they strapped a breathing tube to my mouth and knocked me out again.

"In the meantime…" The Commander trailed off.

She rushed at him and slammed him into a table, gripping onto his neck as Javier stared confusingly at her. She threw him against a table in a lab and held him down by the neck as she held a pistol to his head.

"W-Wait! We had a deal!" Javier choked.

"You didn't bring us who we wanted." The Commander said viciously.

"Who did you want? I'll bring them to you, I promise!" Javier begged.

"No need. We're going to get them ourselves. I knew I shouldn't have trusted people like you for this…" The Commander sighed as she put the pistol away.

"I thought you needed the people for the cure?" Javier said quizzically.

"With them, we can only quarantine the infected zones and maybe treat it. We needed them for the cure, and you failed to give it to us." The Commander explained.

A member of the team walked into the lab, and waited for orders from his commanding officer.

"Give me the tissue scanner." She ordered.

"Hold still." The Commander said to Javier as she slammed the scanner into his flesh.

"Ah! What the hell are you doing?!" Javier wiggled in pain.

"You weren't leaving this place from the beginning. I'm sorry I lied to you, but we need you for something else." She told Javier as she showed him the scanner as it blinked a red light with the words 'CONFIRMED' flashing.

"Wait, no!" Javier exclaimed at the scanner as he looked helplessly at her.

"Restrain him quickly; we only have so much time before he turns." The Commander ordered her associate.

"No, no! Scan again, scan again!" Javier yelled as the hazmat exhaled through his mask as he strapped belts on Javier's wrists and ankles.

"Commander, you're exposed, cover yourself quickly." The hazmat said to her.

"Then I guess this is my goodbye." The Commander nodded at Javier as he tried to wretch himself through the restraints.

"There's another way! There has to be, please!" Javier begged.

"Now you know the extremes that we go in order to end this plague. Look at it this way; you're helping us fight it. Your life has meaning, you're changing the future."

"BULLSHIT, I want to go home!" Javier spat.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but you should know more than anyone that we're outnumbered against these things. We're past moral ethics and it wasn't by choice."

"Initiate the x-ray and turn the thermal cameras on." She told the hazmat team through the one-way mirror.

"You asshole! I don't feel sick! I can't be sick, I'm fine!" Javier yelled as the hazmat prepped a needle.

The Commander left the room, and closed the vacuum-sealed door behind her.

"No! Noooo!" Javier yelled as he tried to move away from the injection.

In the other labs, we were tested one-by-one, scanned for infections, and queued up for testing. We stayed in there for days as Dodson's guards walked through the Steamworks with their weapons loaded and their safeties off. They parted the large crowd that usually pushed and torn their way through, and anyone unfortunate enough to get in there way was shot with plasma and internally burned to death. People ran, but most decided to fight, thinking that this was their extermination, their mass failure at winning that made Dodson want to clear house. People took up in arms and scavenged shivs and blunt pipes to attack the heavily armored soldiers. They fought hard, but eventually all were killed, their only affect being only a scuff of armor. Hundreds of people, now all dead, and everyone left around hid for their lives as the men and women steamrolled through the underground.

Jethro stared from his perch, by himself as the first shots were fired. He looked up from his magazine of women to look at what happened. He flinched from the gunfire, and looked around suspiciously as the crowd of fighters dispersed from the center. Screams of agony soon followed the shouts of revolt, and blood poured through the stone floor and bodies dropped, foaming and bleeding from the mouth.

"Jesus…" He told himself as he jumped down from his perch and looked at what was happening.

He crouched down as people ran and were shot down near the camp, crawling after the fire of the camp as it went out. The camp was dark, and Jethro stood watching as people bled out violently nearby him. He was confused and horrified at the sight, and hid at the camp as the soldiers walked through. One soldier went over to the wounded fighter, and fired a shot directly into their head, clearing a giant hole through it. Jethro stayed quiet as the soldiers surveyed the camp and made sure no one was attacking. They moved on with their massacre as Jethro exhaled.

All the camp fires were stomped out and the little light the Steamworks had were snuffed out, the entire place left in the dark as the Steamworks were completely shut down as the life that kept the place loud and rumbling was taken to a complete silence.

Jethro looked around quietly, and witnessed the dying bodies sprinkled all throughout the Steamworks. No living being was in sight, all who survived either in hiding or on death's door. He felt alone, he knew that the escape had failed.

Watching over all this destruction was Mister Dodson himself, looking through a window in his office next to a blonde-haired woman in his office.

"So you know they got in?" She asked him.

"'Do I know?' They tried to overthrow me, they literally announced that they were Legion." Dodson told her.

"So now what? Do we warn the NCR?" She asked.

"The NCR don't approve of us, they wouldn't believe that they got all the way here. It's best to just let it happen."

"You know what this means, right? They're going to war."

"It's been happening for a while, now this means its official. Let's hope they take each other out so we can continue this project." Mister Dodson told her, still staring out through the window at the bodies while more angry stragglers were taken out.

"Cleaning house?" She asked him.

"Just making sure we got all of them."

"They'll be more."

"I know. But I'll notice if they get in."

"What a waste… we could have used them."

"For what? Getting more people?"

"No…" She said with a sigh.

"You've been talking to the hazmat people, weren't you?"

She didn't respond.

"Believe me; they're never going to find a cure. The only reason I'm letting them work here is because they have a connection to Big Mountain. I'm thinking of getting holograms, you know." Dodson said with a smirk.

"Look, you can do what you want with the people when this all blows over, until then; we're keeping a cap on how far we stretch outside." Dodson told her as they turned around.

"Oh, right, almost forgot about you." Dodson said as he looked at Joe, who was tied to a rolling chair by his feet, arms, and mouth.

He was already beaten, bloody, and sweating from sitting in the chair all day, and he lazily looked up at the two as they walked over to him and untied his mouth bind.

Joe let out a big sigh and breathed in through his mouth as the two smiled at him.

"Who's this? You're in to old guys, now, Dodson?" She asked him.

"Really funny. Leave the wit to me." Dodson told her as he held up Joe's face and looked at him in the eyes.

"Not talking to me, now? A few months ago, that's all you ever wanted to do." Dodson told him.

"What do you want?" Joe asked dryly.

"I just want to talk to you, that's all."

"I think you may have heard of each other. Joseph, meet Marge." Dodson introduced.

"I'd shake your hand, but I can see you're a little tied up." Marge told Joe, making Dodson let out a loud laugh.

"HA-HA-HAAAA! Servant! Servant, write that one down, I need to use that one later!" Dodson ordered with a tear in his eye.

"Something tells me this isn't the conversation you wanted to have." Joe told them.

"Nope, I'm here to talk you about your stance here, among other things." Dodson told Joe as he spun him in a circle in his chair.

"I've been looking over the recording feed from my little station here, and I've come across some perplexing details about your character." Dodson told Joe as he turned on the television screen.

The three watched as a camera spotted Joe mercy killing the Black Team in the elevator with the golden gun. Joe fired ruthless shots as blood shot out quick as light onto the lens.

"Now I just ate, Joey, and that just makes me sick to my stomach." Dodson said sarcastically as he shook his head.

"This is exactly the kind of behavior that got you here in the first place, you can't just go breaking the rules like that, that's what got Marge all hot on your trail in the first place."

"Rules? There aren't any rules out here." Joe told them.

"You see, that's where you're wrong, Joe. There _are_ rules out here, and most follow, except you. And if there's any rule that should be obvious to anyone, it would be euthanizing people who didn't ask you to."

"And what are you going to do about it? Force me to fight someone? From the sounds of it, there isn't anyone left to fight." Joe tested.

"I'm sure there are smart ones who hid, but that's not what I'm going to do. Like I said, before, you're going to _talk_. That's all, nothing else." Dodson said with a menacing grin as he and Marge walked out of the room, leaving Joe facing the window as the muffled screams of the wounded were heard in his ear.

Joe waited a moment, and the door opened again. One person's footsteps entered the room, and turned Joe's chair around. It was a woman with brown hair and brown eyes, her hair cut short. Joe glared at her, getting ready to face an interrogation.

"Do you know who I am?" She asked him.

"I've got a few guesses in my pocket. Let me just get them out."

"As you know, we've been monitoring your matches since you first got here, making sure we kept an eye on you. Now, Mister Dodson's finally given you to us." She told him.

"And what is it you want from me?"

"All we need is you, Joe, you're the key."

"Key to what?"

"We tested your blood on your first match, if you remember, and the results came up, and… it was a miracle." She smiled as she looked up at the celling.

"You were infected. You have been for seven months. But that's what makes you special, Joe. Most people's minds are lost within the first two months, and drag themselves into the nearest body of water to turn, but not you. You're fine, you're immune."

"So what?"

"So, you can help us treat the infection, you can possibly cure the plague all together, end all mutations if we're lucky. Your genes are rare, one in a million, and better yet, you're still alive, and that's more than I can say about the others. I'm asking you to help us with the infection."

"And what happens if I do?"

"We take you to the lab and we test you, we'll make sure you're treated the best you possibly can until you pass."

"_Pass_? It'll kill me?!" Joe yelled his voice cracking.

"Don't you see? This is a small price to pay, we can make radiated water safe to drink, we wouldn't have to purify it, you could just drink it. People wouldn't die from any mutants in the Wasteland, we can get civilization back on track with this if this wor—"

_"'If'.If_ it works! I'm not going to die for some false hope for a better tomorrow! You people are like posters for vaults!"

"But if you give yourself up to us, I promise the best technology manufactured will be used to make this cure possible."

"Bullshit! I've been through hell, and I survived! I'm not going to give it up now to die here all by myself!"

The Commander paused for a moment, and looked away from Joe.

"I somehow thought you'd be this narrow minded. Probably since seeing how you acted after your hazing, I understand how much death scares you, but it's going to come around eventually. Wouldn't you want to make your last years worth something?"

Joe looked at her for a moment, and looked down at the ground.

"NO! FUCK THAT SHIT!"

"Fine, if you want to act this way, then I have no other choice." She said as she turned around to him.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? That doesn't seem like it's going to work out for anyone."

"You forget we've been watching you for a long time, Joe. And I know that sarcasm and jokes are saved for when you're confident in yourself. You're on death's door now, and all those remarks are gone. You're afraid, and you've got nothing left, but I promise you'll lose a lot more if you don't do this."

"Wow, that was cute. You want to write that one down for a poem, too? Servant! Write down her last paragraph!" Joe called to the servant in the corner.

"We have all your friends in our lab." The Commander told Joe, flattening his smile.

"While you're here, we're testing all of them to see what we can do for the infection, and so far we already lost two patients. The next person on the research queue is Sarah."

Joe glared at her.

"You're right, things might not work out for us, they haven't been going well so far. So sit here and wait, we'll get you eventually, whether you want to be alone or not."

"You piece of shit." Joe growled.

"This is what's necessary, Joe. You need to stop putting yourself ahead of everyone else, or it's going to cost you more than your freedom."

Joe stayed quiet.

"This is what I get for bargaining with a raider." She told herself.

The word sunk deep into Joe's head as he heard it.

"I'm not a raider." He told her.

"Then what do you call yourself?" She asked him. "You care about surviving, not living, and you'll do just about anything to further your chances of survival. You need to face it; you're not the purist you make yourself out to be."

"I've done more good than I've done bad." Joe argued.

"Then further tip the scales. Do this one thing, and you won't be remembered as a common murderer."

"I know what kind of person I am, and I'm not going to bargain with a low-life who makes fake promises." Joe stared at her.

"You want to play this game, old man? Fine!"

The Commander slammed her foot into Joe's chest, sending the rolling chair flying back, smacking Joe's face into the window.

"Let that be a reminder to what's going to happen when you sit there and tell yourself you're the saint of the world."

Joe lifted his head up and looked out the window to the dozens of bodies around the Steamworks.

"Go ahead!" Joe grunted in pain. "We'll see who God favors in the end."

"Fucking psychopath." The Commander mumbled as she left the office.

Joe exhaled a fog onto the window as he tried to pull his eyes away from the vision set in front of him. He closed his eyes and looked down at his tied up feet in remorse as he was left to his thoughts.


	84. Chapter 84

**Chapter 84: Et Tu, Brute?**

"Move her to the lab." A voice said in my head as I was grabbed in unconsciousness.

I opened my eyes slowly, my body feeling weirdly rested and calm. I looked around the room. It was brightly lit via several blinding bulbs that were suspended above me. The hazmats picked me up and took me out of my holding cell as I tried to move. I was paralyzed, my eyes being the only thing I can move. I looked down at the lab equipment as the mechanical breaths were taken out of the hazmat team that held my head and feet.

"Take him out; we're go for the next batch." The hazmat said as they took me into a different room.

Another pair of hazmats walked by us, carrying a body covered by a white sheet stained red at the center. A gray, lifeless head of Randy poked out from the top of the sheet as he was rolled out of the room.

It was then I began to panic. Using the few things working in my body I breathed quickly in and out, trying to display my displeasure with what was happening. Although my face seemed calm, my eyes twitched around, trying to find their own way out this situation. I continued to hyperventilate as my body was placed onto a soft bed in the center of the room. I looked to my side to see needles being stuck into my body with tubes connected to them.

"We're not getting much from this vein, try the legs and neck, it looks like she's been shot up well." A hazmat said as they removed the needle from me.

"Why the hell do we have to work with these druggies? They're basically dead."

"But technically alive. The last subject yielded great results, but now we're going to see what the infection does to the host when it can't find water."

"You ready?"

"Yeah." The hazmat said as the needle went into my neck.

"You all good on your end?"

I heard a knock on the window, and the hazmat nodded.

"Activating thermal scanner… now."

"Camera's starting up. Stand-by."

"X-ray camera activated, injecting first batch of serum."

I coughed loudly and stared intensely at the needle in my arm, trying to give myself some way to move, or fight back, but I couldn't. My body didn't want to, it gave up.

They flipped on a switch, and a machine hooked up to my needle began to hum and dispense dark red liquid up the tube.

The hazmat sighed.

"Stop the procedure, we have orders." The hazmat said.

They powered down the machine, and the red liquid seeped back through the tube. I sighed as sweat dripped down a short strand of hair.

"We got one coming in now." The hazmat said as the door opened, letting out air in the vacuum sealed room.

"You two are dismissed for now." The new hazmat said to them.

They walked out of the room and closed the door behind them.

The man in the hazmat suit walked over to me and looked down at my helpless face.

"Your hair's growing back, are you gonna cut it again?" He asked me. I instantly knew this man as Dodson.

"I was thinking about how unfortunate your predicament is here. I really sucks for you, I know realize that, being betrayed by a person who doesn't even want you to know his real name all so he could assassinate me and reclaim his honor as Caesar's left hand. Now that I say that, it's all pretty much _your_ fault for believing in Ulysses in the first place."

I opened my mouth to speak, but all that came out was an open grunt.

"That was cute. By the way, I messaged my scouts near the Capital Wasteland, and they all gave me the same report; everything was fine there, except for some scrap metal town being ground zero for a small nuclear blast. What was that you said to me when I drugged you? Blue smoke all over the world? That sounds pretty ridiculous to me, don't you agree?"

Dodson looked down at all the machines hooked up to me.

"Well, Marston, if I ever said that you weren't a bad person, I can use this moment for you as an example. I mean, really, sacrificing yourself for the greater good of science? I wouldn't have guessed it from you."

I exhaled through my mouth to try to speak again, but another stammer came out.

"But, alas, you are just another scoundrel, allowed to live because of your friend's willingness to die for you." He told me.

"I would have called you lucky, but that was before I decided to kill you." He said as he pulled out a pistol and aimed it at my head.

I blinked rapidly, and stammered weakly at him as he pulled the trigger.

A little flag with the word 'BANG!' was released from the gun and pressed up against my forehead, and Dodson laughed.

"Isn't this great?! I found it lying around!" Dodson giggled.

"No, but really, I'm just going to have my men kill you in the arena." Dodson said without a smile as he threw the toy gun aside.

"Let's go, tubby." He told me as he pulled my gurney out of the room.

Helpless, I lie still as Dodson moved the bed out of the room, past a group of hazmats that were trying to get in. My eyes rolled slowly to the side as they met with Joe's face. He looked sadly at me as I stuttered out of my throat, coughing weakly to tell Joe to get away from them. He watched me as he willingly walked into the room and sat down, looking at the ground silently as the vacuum-sealed door closed.

Dodson nodded at all the hazmats with his disguise as he took me out of the lab. I breathed in at all the people who walked by, desperately trying to warn them with my guttural sounds and rapid blinks. They all turned away to do their research in all the other rooms with the housed Blue Team.

Dodson waved at the hazmat team as he closed the door to the elevator, the last thing I saw was Dodson lifting up my limp hand and using it to wave at them as the doors finally closed.

"Hey… wakey-wakey!" A voice called out.

Ulysses slowly open his eyes to find himself suspended on a cross, looking down at Dodson as he stared at him with his golden cane.

"Sorry for waking you up, I could see that you were already… 'tied up'!" Dodson forced out a joke.

Ulysses stared at him in silence.

"Hmm…" Dodson said disappointingly to his stolen joke.

"I'm really proud of myself to what I did here; the irony is just…perfect." Dodson smiled as he signaled Ulysses to look around.

He was tied by his hands and feet to the cross, centered in the middle of the room with a single bulb that barely gave out light to his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ulysses told him.

"Don't play dumb, Ulysses! You and I both know I outsmarted you and your Legion cohorts!"

"I don't know if you understand this yet, but if you haven't noticed, I wasn't joining them in their attempted coup against you."

"That's right; you were part of a different one, one that failed as well!"

"How did you know they were planning this?"

"The same way I figured out you and your friends were Caesar's Legion, you people make it very stupidly obvious." Dodson said as he took his cane and slashed the eagle's wings across Ulysses chest, tearing his shirt and exposing his chest.

Dodson looked at Ulysses with a smile as he spotted an intricate scar on his chest, one that wrapped around lines and had small hidden sentences in Latin.

"So what was that you said about not being part of the Legion?" Dodson asked him.


	85. Chapter 85

**Chapter 85: Odyssey**

"Take the traitorous dog down." A man ordered.

Several men in red armor walked to a cross and cut it down, making the suspended man scream in agony as he fell down with the cross. The man on the cross looked at his bleeding hands as the armored men ripped spikes out of them. They then went down to his feet and ripped the spikes from his ankles, making the cross-bound man yelp and shout as he bled from his hands and feet.

"Take him to Caesar, he requests an audience with him."

The armored men dragged the bleeding body of the captive up a hill, past starving women with rucksacks on their brittle backs. They threw the man's body into a tent, and he shouted in pain as he breathed heavily, holding his oozing wounds.

The captive looked up to a throne of a man with a buzzed head with gray hair, looking down at him angrily.

"Genus tuum praevaricata es." He told the captive.

"Do you know what that means?" He asked the wounded man.

"I did not betray you, Caesar, I only wanted to help." The man said sorrowfully.

"So you _have_ learned your Latin. You are a smart man, Frumentarius Herminius, but not smart enough. I trusted you, and you alone to carry on this mission, and in return, you try to _poison_ me." Caesar told him.

"I did not try to poison you, it is chemotherapy, Caes—"

Caesar whipped the down man forcefully, making him scream in pain and tense up his muscles.

"You were better off with infiltrating, Herminius. I shouldn't have let you see me in a vulnerable position. It will be the first and last time anyone does that."

"Please… mighty Caesar, have mercy… think of all the good I have done for you. I have been loyal to you in every way I could…"

"You may be right, but your punishment must be severe. You are a threat to our order, and you must be exterminated." Caesar said to him as he got up from his throne and walked to a fire pit.

"Please… please… no!" The man begged as Caesar ignored him.

"Restrain him." Caesar ordered his guards.

They grabbed the man by his arms, and held him up, kneeling up to Caesar as he walked away from the fire, a smoldering brand in his hand.

"Caesar, I'm your servant! I will do anything!" The captive yelled as Caesar walked over to him, looking down at the man with pity.

Caesar pressed the brand against his chest, making the man scream out into the skies in mortal pain as his flesh burned and melted from the hot iron. He pulled the iron away, and the man dropped to the ground. He sobbed as he looked at his chest, recognizing the brand on his skin; the Mark of Shame.

"Frumentarius Herminius, you are hereby banished by my Legion. You have 24 hours to make your escape until your assassins catch up to you." Caesar told him.

"No… no!" The man yelled from the ground.

"Caesar! Just kill me! KILL ME PLEASE!" The man shouted as he grabbed Caesar from the hands.

The man in roman armor slapped the captive across his face, striking him down to the ground as he signaled his guards to dispose of the man.

The guards picked the wounded man up and dragged him out of the tent, passing by all the trainees and members of the Legion. Everyone stopped sparring and sat in silence as they stared at the man. They carried him from the camp, bypassing all those who spotted the Mark on his chest, passing all those who gasped and whispered at the sight.

"Joshua… please… kill me…" The captive begged.

"Do not call me by that name, you worm!" The man yelled as he threw the captive off the hill.

The Frumentarius rolled down the hill, shouting out in pain as dirt fell into the holes in his hands and feet. He finally crashed on the bottom of the hill. He looked up at the fort of Caesar's Legion.

The guards returned to Caesar, and stopped by his side, continuing to guard their leader.

"Graham, my dear friend, I am sorry to let a member of your tribe go, but it must be done." Caesar told him.

"You have done the right thing, Caesar. We cannot have a traitor ruining our assault." Graham told him.

"That you are right. Have you prepared your men?"

"Of course, we will be ready by dawn."

"Good. Intercept Herminius as you go forth."

The Frumentarius crawled weakly by the shore, over to the docks, where he crawled onto a board of wood and laid down in it, passing out as he kicked the wood away from the dock and drifted down the river with a glimmer of life still left in his body.

He washed aboard a shore the next morning, the bumps of land jolting him awake. He then continued to crawl forward through the desert, without food or water. He ached and did his best to cover up his tracks, but his useless legs dragged prints all over the sand and grass. He realized that the morning was soon ending, and dusk was approaching him. He desperately crawled forward, using all his energy to pull himself forward, but when all he saw was barren land, he decided to give up and roll over onto the ground.

He rested on the ground, awaiting the Legionary assassins to catch up to him and do unspeakable things to him until he died. He had nothing inside of him to keep him going, and he gave up, ending his legacy in humiliation and exile. He then heard a loud, constant buzzing in his ear, ending all the silence of the earth below him. It got louder and louder, and finally caught up to him. He heard footsteps approaching quickly, several of them. The assassins were here for him, and he thought up his final goodbyes.

He opened his eyes to a pistol aimed at his head, a man in armor and military ribbons pierced through the mantle. The Frumentarius looked weakly at him.

"We found someone, sir." The soldier said to the others.

"Who are you?" The man questioned the banished Frumentarius.

"I would not dare give you my information; it would be a dishonor to help barbaric pigs who flaunt firearms. If you hadn't lacked any courage, you'd put your useless technology down and face me." The Frumentarius spat.

"Let's go, he's dying anyway. Let's just give command the reports, there's nothing for us here." Another soldier told him.

The Frumentarius laughed, and coughed out sand in his lungs.

"We will come for you when you least expect it, and we will rise again. We are Legion."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" The soldier asked as he continued to aim his pistol at the downed man.

"You will lose this, all of you. You will lose because you think your cockiness replaces merit."

"We're going back to the vertibird. Take him in for questioning." Another soldier ordered.

"Got it." The soldier replied, grabbed the Frumentarius's dried wounds.

A shot rang out and zipped through the soldier's stomach, downing him atop the Frumentarius. The other soldiers sprang into action and ran forward to face the ambush. They took cover and began to fight the unknown hostiles as the Frumentarius pushed the body off of him and crawled away from the firefight. He spotted the mechanical vertibird, and pulled his body towards it slowly as the soldiers were closed in on by Legionaires. The soldiers were no match for the close range combat training the Legion had under their belt. The commanding Legionaire held a machete and slapped the firearm to the side and head butted the soldier, finally finishing him off with a stab to the chest.

The Frumentarius got aboard the vertibird as the Legionaires finished off the soldiers. They held their weapons and ran at the exiled man, being stopped by a signal from their commander.

The Frumentarius breathed heavily and held his arms away from the wind, as anything and everything hurt him. He then looked up at a familiar face, adorned in combat armor and a flag of Caesar.

"Look at you, Herminius. You are pathetic, what Caesar saw in you remains blind in me." Graham told him.

"So you are starting the infiltration of the dam, I see."

"Yes. I am leading the charge, and I will win, I will win all the glory that you have ever received in this battle. I will be a hero while you die out here."

"You won't win, Joshua. We both know how weak you are, that's why you were the replacement for commanding the charge. You're just a man of God who can speak another meaningless language."

"And you are just a tribal who got lucky. I will show you, Herminius. I will conquer the west, and the Legion will free everyone from the NCR."

"You're no Legate, Graham. And when you fail you will find yourself where I am now, except you will die, and _I_ will live."

"Then I will have to let you see my triumph yourself. Come, Herminius, watch my victory at Hoover, and watch everyone crawl away from you and unto me."

Graham threw his machete at the vertibird next to the Frumentarius, and ordered his men forward, past the vertibird while the captive exhaled angrily at his foe. He crawled into the vertibird and looked around inside. He spotted a first aid kit and grabbed it. The Frumentarius stabbed stimpaks into his arms and legs and took a roll of bandages and wrapped his hands and feet after cleaning out his wounds. He then crawled to the cockpit and studied the controls until he figured out how to start it. The propellers started up, and the vertibird hovered from the ground. As night approached, the vertibird soared through the sky after the Legionary assaults teams as they walked toward the dam. The Frumentarius landed over a hill a mile away, and got out. He sat on the side of the vertibird and watched as the Legion attacked the Hoover dam. As it first was an infiltration, it soon became a full on battle after they were spotted.

The battle raged on, explosions and snipers taking shots everywhere until, finally, the Legion assault forced the NCR away from the dam. The Frumentarius watched, and went back into the vertibird. They retreated from the battle for days and the Frumentarius flew ahead after them, landing near a city where the Legion chased the NCR. From his vantage point the Frumentarius watched as C4 detonated, levelling the city as Joshua watched his troops die out in the city. Joshua failed, and sent the remaining troops in retreat as the NCR retook the dam due to Joshua's cockiness in following the NCR into Boulder City. As Joshua's troops fell back, they were soon t-boned by dozens of Legion troops that stopped them, and turned them around. Their voices echoed in the distant land, and the Frumentarius waited to see what would happen across the large canyon.

"You disappoint me, Graham." Caesar told the leader.

"They won't get the best of me again, Caesar. Those dogs will soon feel the entire wrath of our army!"

"No!" Caesar yelled.

"You men report that you let the exiled Frumentarius go free. And now you say that you failed your attack on the NCR?"

"Y-You don't understand, Caesar, we were winning, an—"

Caesar smacked down Graham, and dragged his face against the rock until he held it over the canyon, making Joshua cower in fear as his face was held over a crack hundreds of feet deep.

"You think I won't show mercy on you because of our history? You failed twice that day, and failure is not an option for us, especially now!" Caesar yelled.

"No! No!" Joshua begged as he was held down.

"Get the can." Caesar ordered his men.

The Legionaires dumped the containments of the can onto Graham, covering him in dark pitch as he choked on it. The men walked back as Caesar stood in front of Graham, shaking his head.

"You had so much potential…"

Caesar lit a match off of his armor and threw it onto the pitch, igniting Graham in a fiery blaze as he screamed in mortal fear. He was then kicked down into the canyon, smacking his burning body against rock until he crashed at the bottom.

"Let this be a warning to thosefearful enough to flee from battle! Back to the dam! This battle will be ours!" Caesar shouted to his army as they turned away and marched back to the dam.

The Frumentarius watched in shock as the men turned away and marched in line with their weapons and flags. Soon, they left the horizon, and all was silent.

The man shook his head as he turned to the cockpit of the vertibird. He then heard a crack in the rock, and turned back to the canyon.

"H…Help! Help me!" A voice begged from below.

"Graham?" Herminius asked.

"Please… it hurts…" He said with a slur.

Herminius rushed to the vertibird cockpit and flew down into the large canyon and landed it at the center. He walked down the path of rock to the voice. He walked down the rock and turned a corner to see Graham.

He was alive, but that was an overstatement. Graham lied in a pool of his own blood, his legs and arms broken and completely distorted. He was covered from head to toe in charred blood, his hair burned out and skin boiling off of his body.

"W-Who's there?" Joshua moaned, his body trembling.

Herminius stared at him, and then looked back at the vertibird.

"I'm hurt… I-I can't move, I can't feel anything!" Joshua shouted out.

Herminius heard another crack in the rock, and then pattering footsteps.

"Graham, be quiet." Herminius told him.

"Who's that? Who are you?" Joshua called out.

"You need to stay quiet; we're not the only ones here."

"O…okay… I can stay quiet, I can." He moaned.

Herminius went to pick up Joshua, but then backed away as he tried to be delicate. He looked back to see what the footsteps were of, but they refused to give away their location. The footsteps got louder, and Herminius took Graham by his armor and began to drag him.

The armor melted and fused to his skin, making Graham muffle out a scream as he was dragged through the canyon by his bloody body. Herminius spotted his vertibird and began to move closer to it as Graham's legs smacked against rock. He then let out a loud, forceful scream as he began to get out of shock.

Graham screamed at the top of his lungs, echoing the sound in the canyon until he passed out. Herminius propped him against the vertibird and took the first aid kit out from the cockpit. He exited the vertibird to witness a group of people with clubs and tattoos staring the men down with ferocity.

"You have nerve threatening us. Do you know who we are? You are speaking to officers of the Legion!" Herminius shouted.

A person responded to him in an unknown language.

The Frumentarius turned around to see his vertibird completely surrounded by people, escape not an option to him any longer.

Another person spoke in their specific dialect.

"What do you want? Do you wish to help me or fight me? Make a choice quickly!"

The people spoke with each other until they signaled the two banished Legates away from the vertibird and further into the canyon. Since the Frumentarius did not have any weapons, he decided to play along. He moved through the canyon and into a cave with the other tribals. The two were left alone for a while, and Herminius decided to use this time to heal Graham.

Herminius grabbed Graham by his arms, and set the bone back into place, making the unconscious man scream in agony for every bone he set into place. He took the first aid kit and took the remaining spool of bandages and wrapped it around his body. He used the entire spool, covering Graham's body entirely by the bandages. He stuck a whopping 38 stimpaks all throughout his veins, hoping they would disinfect the rest of his wounds or get into his bone marrow and set his bones together. He used mostly all of his supplies, and was left there under captives of the tribals.

They were fed in their holding place for days until one night, Joshua coughed on the ground.

"Graham?" Herminius asked as he looked at the body he thought to be dead.

Joshua grunted in pain, and held his head up, holding his arms and hissed at the touch.

"What happened to me?" He asked as he looked at his arms and legs, covered in white and red bandages.

"You failed, just as I've said."

"But you… you saved me. Why?"

"Because, Graham," Herminius looked over at his covered face.

"Now we're _both_ failures."


	86. Chapter 86

**Chapter 86: Time**

"And what happened to you two lovebirds after this?" Dodson asked Ulysses.

"We were partners for some time, both working for the same goal; to find a way to win back the graces of Caesar. Soon, we divided, however when we left the Grand Canyon and escaped the tribals, I reconvened with Caesar's troops after their battle at the Dam. He offered me a choice; give the location of Joshua or continue life as prey for the Legion."

"What did you decide?"

"I gave him up, but didn't tell Joshua about it until we reached New Canaan. The same tribals that captured us were now joined with the Legion, maybe because they had something in common, both being tribes at one point and all. The newly allied White Legs and I burned New Canaan to the ground in search of Joshua Graham. He built himself to be a preacher of the Latter Day-Saints, denouncing Caesar entirely. He had a presence there, but not after what I've done."

"So now you're back being buddies with Caesar, huh?"

"No. Joshua Graham survived, like he always does. He fled back to the Grand Canyon and solicited help from the warring tribals to cover him up. Our two tribes are now at war, and my honor at Caesar's Legion is still on the line."

"So that means…"

"Yes. You are not my target, Graham was."

"_Was_?"

"I realized now that it's best to leave time to these things, seeing how anything is possible. I'll leave fate to Graham as it is to me, and we'll see what happens. I don't care whether Caesar takes me back or continues sending assassins my way. As time passes, it favors no one. Eventually, the cancer in Caesar will take him, and soon I'll be free. All I need to do is wait, which is what we're doing now."

"Well that was pretty easy to get out of you, why'd you tell me so easily?" Dodson asked.

"Because one day time will catch up to you, as it does Caesar, Graham, and Sarah. I'll take this information to the grave, but whoever discovers it can do as they please."

"And what do you think would happen if I give this information to Sarah and Joe?"

"Time is a fickle thing. I say it would catch up to you, but I didn't say when. You yourself know deep down that time will claim you sooner than you think."

"That's really profound, buddy."

"You remind me of Caesar, so quick to deny truth. Just like Caesar, you will meet your end in morbid irony."

"We'll see. As for you, you'll meet _your_ end on that cross, ironically the same way your new life away from Caesar started. Have fun Hairy-anus or whatever your name is." Dodson smiled as he walked away.

Back at his office, Dodson sat in his desk with his cane in hand. He looked out the window to the cleared area of bodies and smiled.

"Sir?" The hazmat commander asked him.

"Now that you have Joseph, you can set the rest of the Blue Team go. I still have a few fights in for them."

"O-Of course, sir." The Commander complied as she went to the lab and released the Blue Team back into the arena, still drugged and raw.

The guards threw the barely standing Blue Team out of the elevator and back into the Steamworks, and they barreled over on the ground, groggy and confused. Cassidy tried to crawl away, but she fell over on the ground and vomited, falling back over to rest her dizzy head.

The Captain ran over to the closed elevator doors weakly, his torso down, and his legs being the only thing standing upright. He pounded weakly on the door, the drugs still having an effect on him.

"You bastards… open the door…" He grunted tiredly at the door until he tired himself out and slid his body across it until his back was against the door.

The three were abandoned in the Steamworks, with all the guards gone from the area completely. It seemed they were the only ones down there.

"What happened?" Sandy asked weakly.

Cassidy gagged. "I don't know… I don't remember anything…"

The Captain got up slowly and started to shamble away.

"Hank?" Sandy asked as she reached out to touch him.

He moved his arm away from her and walked forward.

"Let's get back to the camp." He told them.

Hank went over to Cassidy and lifted her up as Sandy picked herself up from the ground. The three walked forward through the graveyard of the Steamworks, looking around at the area confusingly.

"The crowd's supposed to be here, what happened to everyone?" Cassidy asked as she held onto Sandy for walking support.

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Sandy said.

"Of course something's wrong. We tried to free ourselves and failed." Hank said as he led the way, stumbling on the ground with his feet.

They soon heard footsteps chase after them quickly with a man panting loudly. The three looked ahead through the steam to see a guard running at them, tired and bleeding from his stomach. He tripped on the ground and slid in front of the Blue Team, and looked mercifully at them.

The guard was then shot in the head, falling down to the ground and bleeding in front of them. The three looked up to see Jethro loading the semi-auto action of his shotgun. He wore a mixture of his old armor and scrap pieces of the guard's black armor on his. On his head were night vision goggles and across his body were more shotgun shells.

Cassidy smiled. "Jethro, we so glad to s—" She then threw up again on the ground.

"Right back at you. I thought you guys were dead!" Jethro exclaimed as he lead the team back to the camp.

"What happened?" Hank asked as he looked at the camp, now holed off with fortified defenses such as spike fences and limited entrances.

"I thought you guys would have the answer to that. After you guys left, Dodson's soldiers went on a rampage, they massacred almost everyone down here."

"Who survived?" Sandy asked.

"No clue. The teams hid away at their camps an' did what I did here to keep thieves away. It's a free-for-all now, the guards are hiding in Dodson's office now.

"By the way, take these." Jethro said as he pulled out a satchel and gave them syringes.

"What are these?" Sandy asked.

"The reason why so many people are coming after me. These boost your immune system, make you resistant to all of Dodson's drugs and hallucinogens. Javier discovered it, you know where he is?"

Hank scoffed and walked to his tent to sit down.

"What happened?" Jethro asked.

Cassidy burped and cleared her throat. "Javier betr—" She than spat up again.

"Javier betrayed us. He gave us up to the people in those yellow suits." Sandy told him.

"Dammit…" Jethro sighed

"Where's everyone else, then?" Jethro asked.

Hank looked down at the ground, and then got up.

"You have any spare clothes?" He asked Jethro.

"Yeah, sure." He answered as he pointed him to the tent.

Hank turned around to see the camp fire, burning dead bodies with more on the side, stacked up like firewood.

"Jesus, Chri—" Cassidy vomited.

"Why are you doing this?" Sandy asked him.

"We haven't had firewood in weeks, so people started taking the first thing available to them; the people who got taken out by the guards." He told them.

"Don't tell me you ran out of food, too." Sandy said with a disgusted face.

"It hasn't got to that point yet, but it will if Dodson doesn't give us a match."

Hank returned from behind a wall with a white tank top on and camouflaged pants with combat boots at the end. He held his blue outfit in his hands, and looked down at it.

"I have something you can burn." Hank told him as he threw his outfit onto the bodies.

Hank walked away from them back to his tent and lay down.

"What's wrong with him? Jethro asked.

Cassidy shook her head at him and then threw up again on the ground.

"Fucking shit, Cassidy, clean that up already!" Jethro yelled in disgust.

"Sorry." She said, wiping her mouth.

Jethro shook his head, and then quickly turned to the door.

"Everyone get back." He said as he held up his shotgun to the only entrance.

Cassidy and Sandy moved behind Jethro as he aimed his shotgun at a person walking up to the door.

"Don't move!" Jethro yelled as he put his night vision goggles on.

"Take it easy, I'm a friend of Sarah and Joe's!" Lennie exclaimed as he put his hands up.

"Yeah? Well Sarah and Joe are dead, so that don't mean shit to me!"

"They're not dead." A voice said behind them.

Jethro turned around to aim his shotgun at Kat, who stood nonchalantly.

"How the hell'd you get in here?" Jethro asked her as he quickly aimed his shotgun from side to side at the two people.

"You have a vent right there. It's pretty easy to get in here." Kat answered.

"Dude, just put the gun down, we're unarmed." Lennie told him.

"Why should I? I recognize you, asshole. You're the guy who murdered Michelle's baby!" Jethro yelled.

"What?" Lennie asked him.

"I'm not helping you do shit! I know I've got the upper hand here."

"That's a semi-auto shotgun and it's in bad condition, you haven't been taking good care of it. It's going to jam after the first shot. Semi-auto shotguns are shit for self-defense." Lennie answered.

"How do you know that?" Jethro asked.

"Because I've been using guns like that for hunting for years. I know the brand and type. From the looks of the rust of the barrel, the cycles between shots jam up easily, and that's still if you keep it maintained, which you haven't."

Jethro sighed. "What do you people want from us?"

"We need help in getting out of here and freeing everyone else." Kat told them.

"Why the hell would we want to try to escape again?" Jethro asked.

"Right, I'm sorry. Let's just sit here for three months and survive off of Nelson and Lisa over there." Kat said sarcastically, pointing at the dead bodies. "I'm sure that's a better idea."

"Look, we shouldn't be talking about this here. We should go back to the annex, this place sucks." Lennie said as he poked the moldy wood fence.

"Thanks." Jethro said sarcastically.

"You guys already know where it is, so just pack up and meet me there, being out in the open isn't good for us anymore." Kat told us as she walked away from the shotgun and left.

"I'll help you guys find the annex if you get lost." Lennie said as he knocked over a barbed wire spool.

The three stood there in silence for a moment as the camp infiltrator left.

"I think you handled that pretty well." Sandy told Jethro honestly.

The mutinous gang cleaned up their camp, taking the bag of supplies, chems and cooking utensils with them. They started to walk wearily to the annex with their stuff, leaving Sandy and Lennie to finish cleaning up the camp.

She looked over to the tent where Hank stared at the fire and ashes of his old suit. She walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry." She told him.

"This is my fault." He told her.

"No it's not. None of us could have known that Dodson knew what we were planning."

"That's not what I meant." Hank told her as he pulled out his PDA from the tent and gave it to her.

He pressed play on it and let her watch the video.


	87. Chapter 87

**Chapter 87: Captain Karma**

Hank sat against a chair, tied up and bleeding from his mouth onto his red suit. His helmet was on the floor, cracked against concrete. Hanks hair was a mess and had spots of blood on it. His nose was broken and he had a black eye. The camera was placed right in front of him as he was surrounded by a group of men with guns.

"Say it!" The captor yelled to Hank.

"Monkey… don't be alarmed. This is all part of my pl—"

Hank was punched across the face and cried out in pain.

"SAY THE FUCKING LINE!" The man shouted at him as he held a pistol to Hank's temple.

"Marie…" Hank rehearsed.

"I'm sitting here today because I have been lying to you. You should receive this message when you are of age. This was never a game… I'm not a super-hero from space and you aren't my newest recruit. It was just a lie I told you to get you to leave your home with me. My name is not Captain Cosmos… it's Hank Werhner"

"I am not your real father." Hank sobbed as he forcibly read his lines.

"I killed your real father, Ishmael Ashur when you were very young and now his men are making me pay the price. I have ruined the Pitt, and almost singe-handedly doomed the people here to die by mutations. I am sorry for lying to you, and I hope that one day you can continue your father's legacy as ruler of The Pitt and savior of the people…"

Hank was punched across the face and spat blood onto the floor.

"I DIDN'T SAY TO STOP!" The man yelled.

"I don't deserve to be loved by you, and you didn't deserve to be fooled by me. I'm no father, and can't ever be one after what I've done… I… I say again… I'm sorry." He cried.

"I know you must be angry at me, and I know you want to be here… with me… to humiliate and berate me for ruining your life. I was never looking out for you; I was selfish and only took you away from your home to get revenge on your father for a mistake that I committed against him. " Hank sniffled.

"I deserve this, Marie… I deserve this…"

The man held the pistol to Hank's head and he sobbed quietly as he closed his eyes.

"I lov—" The video then cut off and ended.

"What happened after that?" Sandy asked him.

"Marie happened. She saved me from them and freed me. We then left The Pitt and traveled for two years after that. Then we got here…" Hank told her.

"What did you mean, 'Doomed the people of the Pitt'?"

"Marie was the cure for the Troglodyte Degeneration Mutation, and I took her away from that. She and I attacked everyone there because she thought we were playing a game."

"I fooled her into playing that game for years, because I was afraid of what she'd think of me when I showed her that video, so we kept playing. She always thought this was a game." Hank continued.

"That's not your fault." She told him.

"Then who's is it? I was right in that video. I'm not a hero; I've committed genocide because I harbored a grudge against her father."

"Who was her father?"

"Ishmael Ashur. He was my slave owner after I tried to overthrow him. One day, someone came to the Pitt and helped me kill Ashur and steal Marie. I took care of her during her infancy and lied to her about her real parents. I knew she was the cure, but I didn't care."

"That's why I wanted to overthrow Dodson. He reminded me so much of Ashur. His face made me so angry and remorseful whenever I looked at him, plus he knew everything that Marie and I did. And now, I'm angrier than ever. I lost again and now I don't have anyone." Hank added.

Lennie looked at the two as he overheard their conversation. "I didn't know what I did to Michelle. I had no idea until it was too late." Lennie told the two as he took off his golden knuckles.

"I don't want to hurt people anymore. I'm not doing it anymore." Lennie said as he gave Hank his brass knuckles.

"Some people can just kill whoever they want because they have to, I'm not like them. I have nightmares every night of murdering people, I can't take it. You're stronger than I am." He told Hank.

"Let's get to the annex." Hank said as he put the knuckles on and got up.

The three packed up their things and moved quickly through the empty Steamworks to the annex. Lennie tapped on the brick wall and the door opened up. The three took their things inside the hole in the wall and looked around. Kat sat on the couch, along with the rest of the Red Team. They sat around the room and ate food until they noticed their new members.

Sampson sat in the corner, and paid no attention to them. He just stood there against the wall, breathing quietly through his nose.

"That everything?" Kat asked them.

"Yeah." Sandy told her.

"So what is it we're doing?" Hank asked them.

"So I've been spending a lot of time in the vents to do recon on things around the Steamworks, and when I gave you guys your weapons during the first coup, your friend Joe noticed something."

"What was it?" Jethro asked.

"The steam that rises to the top of the ceiling isn't actually steam, its gasoline leaks."

"Why is gasoline leaking?" Hank asked.

"Dodson uses it to heat his office during the winter, but the pipes are rusted and it's been seeping through all of the vents for years now."

Cassidy raised an eyebrow. "So what are we going to—" She burped, and held her fist to her mouth, and then swallowed hard.

"Nope, I'm good." She nodded.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Cassidy continued.

"We're going to ignite it and explode our way out of here." Kat told her.

"Well we can't just through a torch up there… can we?" Sandy asked.

"No. The leaks are in different areas of the arena, so we're going to need a line of explosives to trigger at the same time, otherwise the fire would just burn up and wither away. We're going to have to detonate it at the source and cause a chain reaction." Lennie told her.

"Where's that?" Jethro asked.

"It's across from the Great Arena. It's guarded all the time, but if we're ever going to be close to getting in there, it's when we have weapons to fight our way inside." Kat announced.

"So what's the plan?" Hank asked the two.

"If we can get our hands on some explosives, I can run a line through the vents so no one would see the bombs. Then, I'll draw the line to the source where you guys would have made it inside so you can set the last bomb and activate the timer so you can get out of there."

"So I don't suppose you guys have explosives on you, right?" Lennie asked.

"Nope." Jethro answered.

"So that's another vote for Ulysses." He told Kat.

"What's a Ulysses? Is that a dirty word?" Sandy asked.

"N-no?" Lennie looked at her.

"Ulysses is being held captive along with everyone else, I guess. If we free him first he can help us craft ammo and explosives. He knows that stuff well." Lennie told her.

"Then we have our plan. Now we just need to know who's doing what." Kat nodded.

"I'll get Ulysses. I already learned where the vents go from you." Lennie told Kat.

"Yup. I'll take the explosives after Ulysses crafts them and line them in the vents while someone gets to the source and takes the end of the line and sets the charge for the final explosive. It might be tough to get in there, who's it going to be?"

"I'll do it." Hank told her.

"M-Me too." Sandy said quickly after him.

"I think you should just stay here and help everyone evacuate after the blast." Hank told her.

"I agree Sandy. Maybe someone… different should be doing this." Jethro told her.

"No way. I'm going, I can handle this." She told them.

"Fine. So who's going to lead the rest of the survivors out?" Hank asked.

"I'LL DO IT! I'LL LEAD!" Cassidy raised her hand quickly with a smile.

"I'll help." Jethro said with a sigh.

"What should we do?" Karen asked them.

"You can create a diversion so we can sneak in!" Sandy announced her idea.

"Dude… no." Kat told her, glancing over at her team.

"Why not?" Karen asked.

"No offense, ladies, but we're not the best fighters, even _with_ Sampson." Kat told them.

Sampson opened one eye and looked around lazily.

"It's just a distraction; we're not going to be fighting anyone." Another Red Team girl said.

"You think you can handle it? Fine, but don't go crying to me when you get hurt." Kat told them.

"Of course not! The Prophet will heal us! We've been marked by God!" Karen said with a smile.

Kat sighed, and sunk in her seat.

"We'll the Prophet's not here now, so we can't go doing that without him." Kat said, almost in a mumble.

"Then I'll save him!" Karen said as she stood up.

"That's okay; I can go and get him after I free Ulysses." Lennie told her.

"But you haven't been marked." Karen argued quietly.

"That's okay. I've made it this far, I can wait until I reach him." Lennie told her.

Karen sat down quietly, without a word next to the other girls.

"Then alright, Lennie, we're counting on you now." Kat told him as she patted him on the back.

"It should be quick and easy, like sex..." Lennie said sadly at his joke against himself as he got up and took a can of beer with him.

"You're going to do it drunk?" Kat asked him.

"There's been my plan ever since I got here." Lennie answered as he took a swig of whiskey and opened the secret door.

The team heard a faint buzz in the wall, and then a few clicks.

"Don't be alarmed, friends! Multiplayer's back in business!" Dodson's voiced shouted.

"Get ready for more matches than you can handle! First off, Blue Team versus the White Team in Arena 2!" He announced.

"You got to be shitting me." Kat said.

The girls gasped at her.

"I meant 'kidding me'." Kat retreated.

"Let's just make this quick." Hank said sternly as he walked to the door.

"Agreed." Jethro nodded as he got up from his chair and took out his shotgun.

The Blue Team ran quickly to the arena doors to escape any raiders from ambushing them. They closed the elevator door and rode it up to their elevator.

"We're back in action folks! The Arena is not yet dead, its contestants are still waiting for fame and glory!" Dave announced.

"That's right, Dave. In this small team battle, we're pitting the White Team with team players such as Hardcore Cole and…" Bob paused for a moment.

"Wait, that's it?" Bob asked quietly.

"Hardcore Cole versus the Blue Team with players such as STARr with a lowercase extra 'r', Samuel America, and introducing a new contestant…"

"Captain Karma!" The two announcers said simultaneously.

"They… they forgot my name." Cassidy told them.

"They didn't even say my name!" Cassidy yelled.

"It doesn't matter." Hank told her as they walked out of the elevator.

"Hey, guys! It's a mystery chest!" Jethro exclaimed excitedly.

"It's for… Hank." Sandy said as she read the tag.

Hank walked over to the box and opened it up.

"What's inside?" Cassidy asked him as he kneeled silently over the box.

Hank took out his blaster, with dry blood on it, and set it to the side. He then exhaled painfully as he lifted up a small chain.

"What's that?" Sandy asked him.

Hank pulled out a necklace, with a plush brown monkey's foot at the end of it. A note stuck out the side, with the words "Lucky monkey's foot."

The team looked silently at Hank as he gripped the necklace tightly and breathed quickly in and out.

"Hank, are you okay?" Sandy asked as he hyperventilated.

Hank put the necklace on his neck and took the blaster with him.

"I'm fine." He told her as he breathed through his nose.

Hank calmed himself and walked ahead of the team, quickly to the center of the arena.

"Where is he?" Hank panted angrily.

"Look out!" Jethro yelled as he tackled Hank out of the way of a laser blast.

"Get down!" Cassidy yelled as she took Sandy into cover with her.

A heavily breathing man stepped to the center of the arena, his face sweating already. He was overweight and wore a white t-shirt. Sweat dripped off of his double chin and he wiped it off with his arm. At the end of this arm was a mounted plasma rifle, in the other hand a laser rifle. Their microfusion cells were connected to a large metal container on his back.

"Come on out noobs!" The challenger shouted.

Sandy popped out of cover and fired at him. Cole lifted his arm up and his metal arms took the shot for him. He laughed it off in a deep voice.

"Oh boy! I STILL HAVE A KILLSTREAK!" He laughed manically as he threw down a drone that started up and fired at Sandy and Cassidy's cover.

"Jesus Christ, this guy's insane! Who the hell thinks that this is some kind of game?!" Jethro yelled as he fired at the robot.

"No offense." Jethro said to Hank.

Hank jumped over his cover and ran at Cole as he fired his dual rifles at Sandy and Cassidy. Hank threw a punch at his large head and he stumbled back. Cole was tall, taller and bigger than the Blue Team. He took Hank's punch and smacked him across the face with his laser rifle and he fell back.

"You're lucky my unarmed skill isn't 70 yet!" Cole breathed heavily as he reloaded his arm guns.

Sandy jumped out of the cover as Cassidy fired at the robot as it flew into the air and flanked them.

"Sandy, what are you doing?!" Cassidy yelled as she charged at Cole as he aimed his plasma rifle at Hank.

Sandy jumped at Cole's arm, and he freaked out, swinging his arms around to get her off. He threw her off of him, and she smacked against a burned out building.

"Finally, you guys are using the buildings I built for you!" Dodson sighed in relief.

Hank got to his feet and ran at Cole and hooked him across the face, spinning his whole body around. Cole spun in a circle and came at Hank with a spinning back fist. Hank caught his arm and held it down to the ground as Cole emptied his laser rifle into the ground in front of them. Hank hurled Cole away from him and quickly pulled out his blaster and fired at his head.

Cole stood still, mesmerized by his blaster as Hank lifted his golden fists up at him. He threw a left, then a right, then repeated this with grunts in between. Hank then moved to his stomach and punched it over again. Cole broke free of his trance and kicked Hank in the head, catching him off-guard as he fell back.

"Ugh! HURRY UP AND DIE SO I CAN LEVEL-UP!" He roared at Hank as he lifted his foot over him and sent it down.

Hank rolled out of the way of his foot and landed under Cole's right arm. Cole pointed his plasma rifle at Hank's head and he grabbed the barrel of it and tried to move it away.

Cole fired automatic plasma shots next to Hank's head as he struggled to keep it beside him. The shots boomed in Hank's eardrums as the plasma rifle emptied a few inches away from him. Hank heard the gun click and rolled to his side, holding his ringing eardrums in pain.

Jethro ran to Cassidy's aid and chased the flying robot as they exchanged a firefight between each other. Jethro's gun jammed and he cursed aloud as the robot fired a single laser at him. Cassidy shot the robot and it flew to the side, sending the laser into a building next to Jethro. He sighed and smiled at Cassidy as they continued to go after the robot.

Sandy got to her feet and fired her pistols at Cole's metal backpack, sending red and green sparks into the air with every shot. Cole reacted quickly and turned himself around to her as he reloaded his rifles. Sandy fell back into the old wooden building as Cole fired both rifles at her. They ripped apart wood and ignited it from the bottom as Sandy ran upstairs.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME! MY PERCEPTION IS LEVEL MAXED OUT!" Cole yelled as he fired randomly at the two story building.

"Man, not even _I_ took it that far." Hank told him.

Hank jumped on his back and punched the metal box, releasing burning energy into the air around them. Cole once again freaked out and screamed as plasma and laser leaked streams of light of his back. He swung around at Hank as the two exchanged a fight. Hank looked up at Sandy on the second floor of the building.

"His weak spot is his back!" Hank yelled.

"Got it!" Sandy yelled back as she ran away.

"I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL CHANGE MY AIMING SENSITIVITY TO MAX IF YOU DON'T STOP!" Cole threatened as he spun around.

"Sandy, where are you? I told you his weak spot is on his back!" Hank yelled.

The two fighters heard a loud creak in the building next to them, and looked up at the building as the fire burned it down and sent it falling on top of them.

Hank jumped off of Cole's back as the wooden building fell onto Cole. Hank rolled on the ground and covered his head as the ash and smoke blew over. Hank then got up, and looked up worriedly at the crash.

The planks of wood moved out of the way, and Sandy walked out, waving at Hank.

"You said his weak spot was his back, so I dropped a building on him!" She smiled.

More wood flew out of the way as Cole's downed and bloody face rose up from the debris.

"I'll… always respawn at checkpoint…" He croaked as he fell back down and closed his eyes.

"That was weird." Sandy said as she walked to Hank.

"Are you guys done with the robot?" Hank called to the rest of the Blue Team.

"AH!" Jethro yelled as he bashed the robot with his shotgun.

"AH!" Jethro shouted as he smashed it again.

"AH!" He bashed again.

"AH! AH!"

Jethro breathed heavily over the scraps of the robot.

"AH!"

"AH!"

"Dude, it died five minutes ago." Cassidy told him.

"Well…" Jethro breathed.

"AH!"

"Let's get out of here." Hank told them as he led them back to the elevator.

"We should take everything out of the box to take with us." Sandy told them.

"Good idea." Cassidy said as she dragged the box with them into the elevator.

The four waited in the elevator with their guns until the door slowly opened to a group of fighters aiming weapons at them. The Blue Team jumped into action and shot at all of them, dropping their corpses to the ground to bleed out.

"My guns!" Jethro yelled childishly as he dragged the box over their bodies.


	88. Chapter 88

**Chapter 88: Honor**

Lennie crawled through the vents, looking down below him to the rooms around Dodson's office. He looked down into a room, where two man spotted him in the vent.

"Hey, you! Are you here to save us?" Dave asked.

"Uh, no." Lennie told him.

"Please! I don't want to be here anymore!"

"Ugh." Lennie sighed as he opened the grate and got out.

"He's been forcing us to do this for ages now. We just want to leave!" Bob begged.

"Alright." Lennie nodded.

"Dave! Did you heard that? We're saved!" Bob smiled at his co-host as the two passionately kissed.

"Awww." Lennie smiled at the couple.

Bob removed himself from Dave as he fired a shot into Dave's head, making him fall down into the ground.

"Now don't move, asshole." Bob warned Lennie as he stared at the image in bewilderment.

"You ruined the moment, man!" Lennie yelled.

"Shut up already. I'm finally rid of _him_ and this stupid arena. I'm getting out of here." Bob told Lennie.

"Uh…"

Lennie slapped the gun out of Bob's hands and stabbed him in the stomach.

"Well this was just a waste of time." Lennie told himself as he got back into the vent.

He passed through the lab, where he spotted Joe sitting in a room with a needle in his arm, surrounded by the hazmat team. Lennie waited in the grate until the team was done.

"How are you feeling?" The Commander asked.

"I'm fine. How are the tests?" Joe asked her.

"They're going very well. Just a few more tests and we can triangulate what part of your genes we have to alter."

"So when you do that…"

"You won't feel a thing during it, I promise."

"Okay." Joe nodded respectfully at her.

"I'm really glad you're doing this. You're a great man." The Commander told him as she left the room.

Joe sighed quietly to himself as he sat against the chair.

"Joe!" Lennie whispered.

Joe looked up in surprise.

"It's me, Lennie! I'm gonna bust you out of there!"

"Lennie, go away." Joe told him quietly.

"What are you talking about? Those guys are going to kill you."

"I know. So just go away."

"Not until I get you out of here!" Lennie said as he tried to get through the vent grate.

"No! This is what I want!" Joe told him in a sharp whisper.

"What are you talking about?"

"Lennie, I want to do this. There's no way I'm leaving this place until I finish my work here." Joe told him.

"I don't understand."

"I was never going to leave here in the first place, Lennie. Just let me die here, it'll do a lot more good than what we've done before this."

"What are you talking about? We're going to save the world!"

"No we're not! Ulysses lied to us; he just wanted us to kill Dodson so he could repay a debt he owed to Caesar's Legion."

"So… with Rilee…"

"I'm sorry, Lennie. I didn't know." Joe told him as he shook his head.

"Just go. Please. Get out of here and go back to Louisiana with Margaret."

"I don't care about a zombie anymore, Joe! You can't let Dodson beat you like this! You _can't_!"

"I can if it means you guys get to live. If I don't die here, it'll be in some stupid way chasing an adventure for fame. That's the only reason I've ever done any of this. I wasn't doing it to be the good guy; I was doing it to become somebody that people would want to talk to. I've got nothing left in me, Lennie. My daughter's infected and we left her with my family who know nothing about her. I probably got them all killed."

"You had morals, Lennie, and Sarah and I took them away from you. Just… get out now before you end up like us." Joe told him sadly.

"But…"

"I don't want you to end up like us. Please, Lennie. Get away from us."

Lennie stared at him quietly, and then slowly turned away from him and continued crawling through the vent.

He continued forward, looking into all of the cells until he spotted a man on a cross, sleeping in a room by himself. Lennie moved over to the vent grate and opened it quietly. Lennie dropped down from above and landed in front of Ulysses. He looked up at Lennie, and he glared back.

"You…" Lennie hissed.

"Lennie… get me down from here. We need to get out of here." Ulysses said weakly.

Lennie stomped over to his bindings and cut him down with Blood-Nap. Ulysses fell down to his hand and knees and wringed out his wrists and got up.

"Alright, now let's g—"

Lennie hooked Ulysses across the cheek, and he stumbled back, holding his face. Lennie continued to stare angrily at him.

"Why did you do that?" Ulysses asked him.

"You betrayed us, you ruined our lives!"

"Look, can't this wait until we get out of here?"

"No. It can't."

"What do you want me to say, Lennie? I didn't expect any of this to happen."

"But you did, didn't you? You prepared this from the start, you lied to us, gave us speeches about having honor in sacrificing ourselves! You don't have any honor, you're a fraud!"

"Lennie, let me expl—"

Lennie punched Ulysses again, and threw him against the cross and held Ulysses by the neck.

"There's nothing to explain! You got Rilee killed! You blew up an entire city and put the stress on Joe and Sarah! We have families, you son-of-a-bitch! And you tore us away from them, all because you wanted to get even with someone!" Lennie shouted as he threw another punch at Ulysses.

"You don't care about us, you don't care about anyone! You're a liar who just wants your personal status back!" Lennie yelled as he threw Ulysses into the cross and knocked them over.

"Are you done?" Ulysses asked him as he got to his feet and wiped his mouth of blood.

Lennie hooked Ulysses one more time, and felled him to his hands and knees. Ulysses felt his cheek and got to his feet again. Lennie turned his back to Ulysses and breathed angrily as he kept his fists balled up.

"I agree, I think I could have done things differently—"

"You think?!" Lennie shouted.

"But we can't focus on that now; we have too much to do. We'll talk about this after we leave this place. Lead the way."

"No, you're going to do something, now." Lennie snapped as he turned around.

"And what is that?" Ulysses asked him.

"You're going to save Joe and Sarah first." Lennie commanded.

"How?"

"Sacrifice yourself for the greater good, you asshole." Lennie quoted angrily as he went back into the vent and closed the grate behind me.

"Lennie." Ulysses called after him.

Ulysses sighed and looked down at the ground as Lennie left the cell. He then looked up as he heard footsteps running to the cell. He ran next to the door as a guard ran in and inspected the cross.

Ulysses ran out from behind the door and grabbed the guard by the head and rammed him into the metal wall repeatedly until the guard fell limp to the ground. Ulysses grabbed the guard's pistol and walked to the open door, getting back into cover as a group of guards ran past his cell quickly. Ulysses looked around the corner and ran forward after the guards, shadowing them as they ran into the lab. Ulysses snuck in as the guards stopped and aimed their weapons at the intruder.

Joe held his head against the locked door he looked through the glass at Karen, who held a pistol at one of the guards.

"I'm here to save you, Prophet!" Karen shouted to him as she aimed the gun around the room.

"Drop the gun!" A guard shouted as he held up a plasma rifle at her.

"Karen, do what he says." Joe told her.

"Not until you release him!" Karen yelled.

"Drop the gun or we'll shoot!" Another guard yelled.

Ulysses activated his Stealth Boy and crept closer to the guards as a door opened to the lab.

"What's going on here, gang?" Dodson asked as he held his golden cane.

"Ooh, this seems exciting! Mexican standoff! Or…" Dodson counted the amount of guards with weapons.

"Swedish, Swedish standoff, my bad." He told them.

"Dodson, tell your guards to drop the weapons, or I won't help you anymore!" Joe yelled.

"Joey, Joey. I really don't care if you don't help these geeks with their science fair project or whatever the hell they're working on, so long as they order me my _holograms_." Dodson said with emphasis as he looked at the hazmat team.

"We'll send a courier to Big Mountain." The Commander nodded.

"Good. Now I _totally_ don't care what happens here." Dodson said with a smile.

Karen aimed her pistol at Dodson's head, and he stopped moving.

"I'll do it!" Karen threatened.

"Nah… no you won't." Dodson called her bluff.

"Let the Prophet go free, and I won't!" Karen exclaimed.

"Prophet?" Dodson laughed at her, making Karen raised an eyebrow at him.

"He's not a prophet! Not even _he_ thinks it! What have you been telling this girl, Joseph?" Dodson laughed.

"What are you saying?" Karen asked him, looking at Joe as he shook his head in sadness.

"Karen, this degenerate here isn't going to let your crimes go forgiven, not even Joe here can do that for himself! He's not blessed or anything, he's got no power! Why else is he here?" Dodson asked her.

"H-He's here to save us, he's here to give us a second chance." Karen argued.

"Sorry, Karen, but Joe here can't do anything, isn't that right, Joe?"

Karen looked over at Joe, and he held his head down in shame.

"N-No…" Karen said in disbelief.

"Yep!" Dodson said as he walked away with his cane.

"Take the shot, boys." Dodson told his guards as they fired into Karen.

"NO!" Joe shouted as he pounded on the safety glass.

Ulysses rand forward, leaving his active camo as he threw the guards out of the way and charged at Dodson. Ulysses grabbed the golden cane and smacked Dodson in the face with it as he wretched it from him. Dodson kicked Ulysses away from him and ran from his cane out of the lab.

The guards turned their weapons at Ulysses as The Commander opened Joe's containment cell. Joe ran in front of Ulysses as the Commander stood in front of the guards.

"Don't hurt him! He's important research!" The Commander yelled as Ulysses and Joe ran after Dodson.

Dodson sprinted down a hallway, looking back at Joe and Ulysses as they charged toward him. Dodson panted in fear as he ran towards his office door and called for the guards at the top of his lungs. The vents above Dodson opened up and a man dropped down in front of him. He grabbed Dodson by the neck and threw him into his office. Ulysses and Joe looked back at the guards as they ran to them.

"I'll handle the guards, go after them." Ulysses told Joe as he stopped running and faced the guards with the golden cane in one hand, and a pistol in the other.

Joe closed the office door behind him and faced Dodson as Lennie held him down over his desk.

"Leonard, you're making a bad mistake, here." Dodson choked.

"You're done manipulating me." Lennie told him as he pushed Dodson into the window overlooking the Steamworks.

Joe held Karen's pistol at Dodson, and stood next to Lennie as they faced the ringleader of Multiplayer.

"You miserable asshole, you call us murderers, but even _you_ are not above killing children!" Lennie yelled at him.

"Well then that wouldn't make me better then _you_, Leonard, wouldn't it?" Dodson asked him.

"Joe, do it." Lennie told him.

"You don't want to do this, Lennie." Dodson told him as Lennie stared at Dodson with crossed arms.

"And why not?" Lennie asked.

"Don't you want to see Rilee again?" He asked.

"I already told you, you're not going to manipulate me." Lennie told him.

Dodson reached behind him, and Joe held his pistol to his face. Dodson pulled out a gas mask, and tossed it to Lennie. He held the mask and lifted it up to his face. He spotted a tear in the side of the mask, identical to Rilee's.

"Sorry about the condition. I would repair it, but—"

Lennie grabbed Dodson throat and began to choke him.

"Where is she?!" Lennie shouted.

"Lennie, he can't answer you." Joe told him as Dodson's face turned blue.

"Answer me!" Lennie yelled as he smacked Dodson's face against the window and cracked it.

"Lennie, stop!" Joe yelled as he pulled him off of Dodson.

"Why should I?!" Lennie asked angrily.

"This might not be the real Dodson. He could be a fake like the other one." Joe told him.

"That's right, Leonard. Am I real, or fake?" Dodson smiled at him as he held his throat.

"Doesn't matter to me." Lennie decided as he walked away and signaled to Joe.

Joe executed Dodson with his pistol and his body dropped against the window and sat still.

"They'll always be another." He continued as the two walked away.

The two left the office to see Ulysses standing at the center of a group of dead guards, holding a pistol without any ammo, and a cane with a bloody eagle at the end of it. Ulysses dropped the empty pistol and led the way to a door where they opened it up.

The three entered the armory, where all the weapons of clothing of generations of fighters slept. They looked around until they spotted familiar clothing. The three grabbed their old clothing that has collected dust and put them on.

Joe ditched his charred robes and put back on his duster, and brushed the dust off the Megaton sheriff's pin so it could shine brightly. Joe looked down at the badge, and read it silently to himself. He ripped it off his duster and threw it on the ground.

Lennie placed a dusty, bloody baseball cap on his head and smiled. He put on a faded, torn t-shirt with blue jeans and sneakers on. He grabbed his old satchel and opened it up. He picked up a bag with three little hairs on it and a note next to it saying 'Nathan's whiskers'. Lennie gave a warm smile and put it back. He then clipped Rilee's mask to his pants, and made sure it wasn't hanging off to the side, like a perfect painting.

Ulysses pulled his sleeveless black duster out and put it on, the American flag still brightly colored on his back. He swung the cane onto his back as he put his boots on.


	89. Chapter 89

**Chapter 89: I Am Ulysses**

"Herminius, old friend, please don't." Graham begged from the ground as Herminius aimed a storm drum at his head.

"And why should I show you mercy? Did you show me the same when I begged for help at the hands of Caesar?"

"Don't you see? This isn't about Caesar! Look at what we've accomplished without him! We have a home, we have faith!"

"Two things in which mean nothing to me."

Behind them, a White Legs tribal ran out with a power fist in hand.

"Deyai-yoo!" He shouted at Graham.

"No." Herminius told him.

"Salt… the…earth?" The tribal questioned in Herminius' native tongue.

"There is nothing up here except salt-upon-wounds, my friend." Herminius told the tribal.

The tribal turned away, and nodded.

"These were once a peaceful people until we came here." Graham told Herminius.

"A synonym for 'weak', Joshua."

"Don't you think what would have become of the Legion if the original tribes didn't join together to fight?"

"A bleak future, no doubt."

"I brought them together for a righteous goal, but all the came of it was pain and war."

"It was necessary."

"No, Herminius, none of this is."

"Don't you see? We're repeating history again! It's useless without our knowledge; you of all people should know that!" Joshua continued.

"And so what if this happens again?"

"Herminius…" Graham shook his head.

"Who are we, who do not know our history?"

"WE ARE LEGION!" Herminius argued.

"AND THEN WHAT ARE WE?!" Graham shouted.

"What would this be called hundreds of _thousands_ of years from now?!" Joshua continued.

"If we don't make a change, we'll go in a circle until everything ends in ultimately!" Graham shouted.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?"

"We're at the _fingertips_ of history, Herminius, and only you ond I could change what happens. We can choose to end wars instead of starting them! We can set a goal for the future; we can go beyond what's expected of us!"

Herminius stared angrily at Joshua as a man ran up behind him and aimed a pistol at him.

"Joshua, are you okay?" The man asked his friend.

"I'm fine, Daniel. Leave us be." The bandaged man told him.

"But—"

"Just go, Daniel. I'll be fine." Graham told him.

Daniel lowered his weapon, and left the two there.

"You say these like you're the first to think of this plan." Herminius told him.

"Sometimes war is necessary to progress." Herminius told him as he aimed his shotgun at his head. Graham looked through the barrel as Herminius slowly lowered it. "But sometimes it's not."

"I'll leave, but I can't stop the White Legs. Seek help from the Sorrows. They are a neutral tribe, but they may help you. Go take your Dead Horses and end this battle, Joshua." Herminius told him.

"Where will you go?" Graham asked.

"As I've said, war is necessary. I'm going to find myself, and think of what you said. Maybe I can _end_ a war."

Herminius turned away from Graham and returned to his vertibird and flew from the Grand Canyon, leaving the Dead Horses to fight the White Legs. He flew from state to state, trying on different personas and escaping the wrath of Caesar's assassins as they chased him throughout the country. Years passed, but Caesar never let up his pursuit of Herminius. At that point, he wanted nothing other than to be someone else, someone who wasn't being stalked. That's when Herminius flew as far as he could away from Caesar, landing in Virginia, a town called Megaton. He went into a saloon and got a drink to celebrate his escape from Caesar. That was when a person in a vault suit walked in with their faithful dog. They sat down next to Herminius, and they had a talk with each other. After a few drinks, the adventurer told him their story. How they grew up in Vault 101 right up the road, how they chased their father all over Washington D.C. and how they battled the Enclave and joined the Brotherhood of Steel and their many exploits in life. They were free, and Herminius was jealous of this life.

He followed the adventurer out of the bar, his mind stocked up with the adventurer's information. Herminius followed them out of town and snuck behind the person and their dog. Now all alone, Herminius turned the adventurer around and executed them in their head. Their dog growled and barked at Herminius, and so he pulled out a bag of freshly paid for raw meat and treats. He fed them to the dog as he stole the lone wanderer's armored vault suit and hacked off their arm brutally. He lifted up the Pip-Boy as he petted Dogmeat and studied it. He tore it off their flesh and cleansed it in the radiated water. It clicked its Geiger-counter as Herminius studied it, giving Dogmeat more food. He was fascinated in it and modified it for a while as he placed it on his hand, flexing his fingers as he looked up at the cartoonish vault boy on the screen.

Herminius stole the lone wanderer's life, he became them entirely. Soon, he returned to Megaton, where a large bomb sat at the center of the town. Herminius studied it, realizing that the bomb was only resting, waiting to awoken with a spark. He placed a charge on it and flew away, out of state to a town called Achielles. He sat down in the bar to find a bed to rest in. That's where he met an older man by the name of Joe. He decided to test his facts about his new life with him, using all his stolen trivia to tell Joe about his fake life. While they talked, Joe mentioned hearing about men with roman armor in town. Herminius decided to leave the bar with Joe, fearing for his life.

But Herminius had prepared for this to happen, he learned to think five steps ahead of his opponent from being in command of the White Legs for so long. But he couldn't help but wonder. How did they know? Did Graham tip Caesar off? Are these really members of the Legion? He never took any chances, and that was his way for a long time. As the two walked, Herminius detonated his remote charge, creating a spectacular explosion on the horizon. That was sure to erase any chance of the Legion tracking him and mesmerize everyone in the town enough for Herminius to make his escape. He offered Joe an escape, and called over his vertibird with his Pip-Boy. The two entered Joe's house and we evacuated into his vertibird with his dog. As we cleared out the house, Herminius took a smoke grenade from the lone wanderer's bag and set in on the grass, pulling the pin.

Marvelous wind from the nuclear blast entered the state as the smoke grenade went off, blasting blue smoke after the vertibird as we took off with him. Herminius finally won, he removed his assassins from the equation and now he could continue his life as another person, out of Caesar's war and with a group that would be none the wiser. He was careful with us, not exposing his real name to us, letting his old life die out with Megaton. He made sure no one could use information against him, so no higher powers of the east could trace what he had done back to him. We rested in Florida, in an old hotel owned by an old ghost. I sat on the bed next to him as we talked, and so Herminius could test out his new life knowledge on someone again, and so he could pump out his old ideas onto me.

"Ulysses." I told him, giving the final say in his new life.

"Ulysses." He repeated, saying his new name.


	90. Chapter 90

**Chapter 90: Exodus**

"Are you sure you want him around?" Joe asked Lennie inside the annex.

"We'll focus on that later; let's just get out of here first." Lennie answered as he felt Rilee's mask in his hands.

"So I hope you boys managed to get ourselves explosives and not just outfit changes." Kat asked them.

"We didn't find any in the armory, but Ulysses managed to scrap parts to make them before the guards chased us out." Joe answered.

"So did you really kill him?" Jethro asked them.

"We don't know. It could have been another copy, so we should be careful still. We shouldn't just try to leave now. Bye the way, I'll take Blood-Nap back, thank you." Joe told them as Lennie gave him back his knife.

"Instead, I'm going to be spending time crafting delicate explosives in a confined space." Ulysses said as he dissected machinery.

"Shut up and work." Lennie told him.

"So what do we do while we wait?" Sandy asked them.

The annex heard buzzing sounds, and then clicks.

"Hello cold world!" Dodson's voice called.

"There's that." Jethro said.

"Goddammit!" Joe yelled as he slammed his fist against the couch.

"Since you guys have loved the last boss battle, we are going to bring you another one for you all!" Dodson announced.

"It's the final member of the Black Team, the one, the only… the Prophet of Joseph versus the Red Team in Arena 6!"

"What?" Kat asked as she looked up angrily.

"You've got to be kidding me." Joe sighed as he held his sinuses.

Sampson grunted as he got up, and brushed past Joe angrily as he left the annex.

"It's alright, there's nothing to worry about." Joe told the team as they quickly followed Sampson.

"We'll figure something out." Kat told him as she left quickly to escape the raiders.

"Ah…" Joe sighed as he left the annex and traveled to the opposite elevator quickly and got inside.

He waited in the elevator until the doors opened. He traveled across the small circular arena to the center to tell the team they didn't have to fight.

Sampson limped over to Joe with the girls behind him, a glare in his eyes.

"Hold on guys, we don't need to fight, there isn't actually anyone in the ble—"

Sampson threw a punch into Joe and sent him flying back into the ground, kicking up dust with him.

"Wait!" Joe shouted as Sampson punched down at him.

Joe rolled to the side to escape the punch, and then looked back up at Sampson as his eye looked at him ferociously. Sampson grabbed Joe by the head and lifted him into the air.

"Kat…" Joe choked out.

"Sampson! Stop!" Kat yelled at the towering giant.

Sampson's grip tightened on Joe's throat as Joe looked pleadingly at him.

"SAMPSON!" Kat screamed at him.

"I'm…having a hard time…. believing… that he's deaf…." Joe choked as he kicked the air.

Sampson slammed Joe down into the dirt, and pounded his body twice after into the ground and threw him back near the elevator.

"Sampson, leave him alone!" Kat yelled, waving her arms at him.

Sampson ignored her as he limped over to Joe as he caught his breath on the ground.

"Enough of this shit." Joe coughed as he ran to his weapon box.

Sampson intercepted him and kicked Joe 5 feet backwards onto his side.

"Oooh, this is good." Dodson giggled.

"You know what would make this fight more awesome? FIRE!" Dodson screamed as the edges of the circular arena ignited with flamethrowers that sprayed fire into the air around them.

Dodson laughed as Sampson punched the ground around Joe as he dodged the pounding fists.

"I'm so glad I bought those." Dodson giggled as he wiped a tear from his eye.

Sampson grabbed Joe by his long beard, and dragged him across the arena to the flamethrowers. Joe yelled and kicked away as he was helplessly dragged nearer to the fire. Joe smacked Sampson's colossal arm, doing nothing for him until Sampson brought him to the fire.

The girls ran out from behind Sampson and pushed on him as he lifted Joe above the fire and almost threw him into it. He swatted the girls away with his working leg as he grunted angrily at Joe. Kat and the Red Team slapped Sampson to get him to drop Joe as he tried to keep them away from him. Sampson growled at them and dropped Joe on the ground and pushed the girls away from him. He couldn't measure his strength and the girls flew back into the ground. Kat fell back and smacked the back of her head against a rock. She fell down and held her head in pain. She looked at her hand, where blood leaked off of it.

Sampson spotted this and went to his knees as he crawled over to her. Kat tried to back away, concussed and scared of him. Sampson looked at her bleeding hand apologetically, and looked up at her.

Sampson heard a loud battle cry, and a knife slashed against his face, sending Sampson away from the girls, holding his face in pain.

Joe gripped Blood-Nap in his hand and ran over to Sampson and jumped at him with the knife aimed at him. He stabbed Sampson in the shoulder as Sampson swung him around near the flames, throwing Joe next to the flame as he fell back next to him. Joe rolled away from the fire as Sampson got up and glared at Joe as he ran over to him and kneed Sampson in the forehead.

Joe swung the knife at Sampson's face and cut against it, Sampson's head snapping to the side from the blow. Sampson lifted up his good arm and grabbed Joe's small neck and tried to throw him as Joe jumped on him. Sampson lay on his back next to the flame as he choked Joe as he swung the knife at him. The two men gritted their teeth as they clinched each other. Joe lost breath as Sampson growled deeply at him. Joe held onto Blood Nap and stabbed it down into Sampson's stomach and he shouted into the air in a booming voice letting go of Joe and sending him rolling to the side. Joe recovered and ran over to Sampson's head and grabbed his large neck as he dragged his face into the fire.

Sampson shouted in pain as Joe burned his face off. He reached his arm out to the girls as they looked over at him and kicked his good leg in the air. Joe grunted as he held Sampson's moving body at the fire. Soon, Sampson stopped shouting, and fell limp.

Joe dropped Sampson's head and looked up at the audience as their recorded cheers subsided.

"I KNOW YOUR SECRET, DODSON!" Joe shouted above at the blinding lights that protected fighters from seeing the empty bleachers.

"AND WE'RE GOING TO KILL YOU!"

The flamethrowers stopped, and Dodson's face stared back through the screen, turning off the camera silently as the audience recording ended.

The girls went over to Sampson, and sobbed as they held his dead body. They cried loudly at his corpse as Joe dropped his knife on the ground and sat down tiredly.

He stared at the girls in sadness as they lifted up his dead arms in attempt to resuscitate him as they bawled. Joe's mouth quivered as he strained his eyes to watch we he had done. He had murdered their protector, the one person who was there for them, and only them.

They soon left the arena, and went back to the annex with random things with them.

"We got more supplies from the arena, for whatever that's worth." Joe told them as he plopped scrap and ammo onto the table.

"This is good. This piece that you found can help me ignite the explosives." Ulysses said as he lifted up a scrap piece.

"Wow, waste more of our time with talking, thanks." Lennie told him sarcastically.

Ulysses sighed and turned back to his workshop.

"So, now what?" Sandy asked.

"Aren't we going to go after Sarah?" Hank asked.

"We don't have any leads on her." Joe answered.

"She wasn't in containment with you?" Lennie asked him.

"A hazmat took her out when I gave myself up to them. I had no idea where she was going." Joe answered.

"So why don't we go in there and go get her?" Hank asked as he got up and cracked his knuckles.

"I don't think that'll blow over for us well." Joe answered.

"We don't have many options if we are gonna go save her." Lennie told him.

"I can always check the vents for her." Kat proposed.

"They're not safe anymore; don't you remember what happened to you in them? I swore I heard people in them when I was busting those two out." Lennie told her.

"Hey, I escaped after they took me away." Kat shrugged.

"You wouldn't have if you kept trying to escape. By the way, that was really dumb." Lennie scolded.

"Whoops." Kat imitated Lennie.

"Just don't be dumb while you're up there." Lennie told her.

Kat left the annex while the Red Team sat with each other quietly.

"What's wrong with them? They usually talk a lot more." Lennie asked.

"Do a headcount." Joe told him.

"Oh…" Lennie said quietly.

"How are the explosives?" Jethro asked Ulysses.

Ulysses threw him a heap of blinking scrap metal, and Jethro snapped to action, delicately catching it.

"Jesus!" Jethro yelled.

"That's the first one down. There are three more to make." Ulysses announced.

"Then get working." Lennie told him.

The wall heard rhythmic taps on the wall quickly, and Joe opened up the secret door quickly. Kat poured in, panting.

"Back so soon?" Jethro asked.

"You guys need to come quick." Kat panted as the room looked at her.

I was held by my shoulders as I was thrown out of an elevator onto the ground. Blood dripped from my face to the ground as I was kicked forward.

"Keep moving!" A guard shouted at me.

The guards stood over me with weapons pointed at me as I crawled slowly forward. I couldn't feel my right shoulder, it must have been dislocated. I moaned as I crawled, holding back my pain as I crawled into the Great Arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, do I have a treat for you today!" Dodson shouted as the audience cheered and whistled.

"I said move!" A guard shouted as they threw me forward, having my land on my dislocated shoulder.

I gave out a scream unlike any other as I landed on it. It felt like someone took a rusted knife and sliced tiny pieces of flesh up and kicked me in the bone at the same time. I shouted in pain as I lay still on the ground, a tear dripping out of my black eye and falling onto the ground.

The guards backed away from me and left in the elevator as Dodson pumped up the fake crowd.

"This day marks the celebration of the revival of Multiplayer! We promise to serve you thick and thin after this point, no matter what political affairs are happening outside!" Dodson shouted.

I rolled onto my back and continued to scream at my red, limp arm at its brutally agonizing pain.

"Without any delay, I will pop the ceremonial champagne with my new game mode: Killing Floor!"

I crawled to my knees and got up, grinding my teeth in pain as I tried not to hold onto my arm. I walked forward with a limp as the elevator across from me opened up to a group of guards. They took weapons from the weapon box and ran at me.

I limped forward, taking one step at a time. The people held various melee weapons at me. They went into a circle around me, and I stopped, looking ahead at the end of the arena where the opened elevator door was, a bright beacon of hope for my escape from here. I took a slow step forward as a guard swung a metal pipe across my face. My face flew off to the side, and I fell back to the ground. I screamed, loudly. I felt my face as I got up slowly to my feet, looking painfully at the elevator as I took another step forward.

"No… I don't want to die… I don't want to go back there…" I begged weakly.

Another guard came into my line of sight for their turn and slashed a kitchen knife at me. I lazily ducked it and ran into her for a counterattack. She threw me off of her with ease and punched me in the stomach, and then gave me a haymaker. I stumbled to the side, hitting my arm against a boulder and crying out to the skies for help. I lifted up my working arm and used it to drag myself along the boulder, my legs now moving at 1/10 the speed of before. I lifted myself off of the boulder and stepped forward, my one eye facing the open elevator door, still far away from me.

I sobbed in pain and inhaled sharply as I stepped ahead again. The guards revolved around as another walked up to me. I sent out a punch at his face and he grabbed the slow moving fist and pulled it forward as he sent a kick into my chest. I fell onto my back with a violent cough as he signaled the other guards for a weapon. He was tossed the pipe and he held it with two hands as he forcefully brought it down into my stomach, and then across my face. My voice gave out from screaming, and I sent out raspy yells as the guard held his boot on my dislocated arm.

He pinned me down and punched me in the face, breaking my nose on impact. Blood poured down my nose and all over my flannel shirt as I moved my neck around wildly, trying anyway I could to escape the beating. The man held me by the hair to stop me from moving, and slapped me across the face, spraying blood onto his hand and onto the ground next to me.

"Guess what?" The guard asked me.

I ignored him and moaned in pain.

"You deserved this." He told me.

I looked up at him and spat out a loose tooth into his face with the blood that came with it. He dropped my head onto the ground and wiped his face as he got up and walked around.

I rolled onto my stomach and sent my arm forward, crawling slowly to the elevator door. I was blinded from tears and swollen eyes, my fingernails ripping off of my hand as I tore them through the dirt towards my goal. The guards followed me, and beat my legs with blunt weapons, making me sob and yell at the same time as the only thing now pulling me forward was my arm. Soon, it became numb, and gave out in the dirt.

I rolled back over and faced up at the blinding lights with the guards in my peripheral view. I breathed out a raspy, bloody breath, over and over as I waited to die there on the ground.

"Enough of this, I'm bored." A guard said as he aimed a pistol at my head.

I ignored it, and continued to look up at the light. I was finally going to know for sure. I was going to realize what was going to happen in the Abysmal Plane if I finally died.

The bright lights I looked up at shut off, leaving the entire arena in the dark, and cutting off the audience's cheers instantly.

"Dodson! We're not done here!" A guard called in the dark.

The light loudly turned back on as a figure stepped out and tackled the guard in front of me and ripped off his helmet.

The lights turned off again, and I heard gunshots pop off in the pitch. The lights turned on again, and the guards were shot and killed next to me, a man with night vision goggles coming to my aid. I looked slowly down at Joe, who was shouting angrily as he stabbed the guard to death. Spots of blood shot out with every time Joe lifted the knife out of his skin, and stabbed it down in a different place. The guard screamed out for help, but no one wished to grant him any. The guard soon died on the spot as Joe lifted Blood-Nap from his corpse.

"We got them, Lennie!" Jethro shouted up to the bleachers.

"Guys, you got to come see this!" Lennie shouted as he left the controls of the arena.

"Sarah!" Joe yelled as he rushed over to me and knelt over me.

"Oh, God, oh God…" Joe said quickly as he looked at my condition.

"Is she breathing?" Jethro asked.

"I don't know!" Joe shouted as he held his ear to my chest.

"Sarah! SARAH!" Joe shouted at me as I continued to look up at the lights.

"Joe, if she's alive, you better give her this quick." Jethro tossed Joe his needles as he pointed to the elevator doors.

The hazmat team along with an army of guards poured into the arena with tranquilizer guns, firing the darts at us as Jethro injected himself with his concoction.

"It's okay. I'm here, we're going to get you out of here." Joe whispered to me as he lifted me up and gave me the injection.

"I know it's to help you. I promise not to hurt you anymore after this." Joe whispered gently as he lifted me and walked to the elevator.

Gunshots fired from the bleacher and at the hazmat team, making them take cover from the barrage. The Red Team took potshots at them as they escorted us to the elevator.

"No…" I moaned.

"Let me die… I just want to know…" I mumbled as Joe took me away.

"You'll be safe soon, Sarah. Wait here." Joe told me as he rested me in the elevator.

Jethro and Joe faced the hazmat team as they caught up to them. The two stood in front of me as the Commander walked to them.

"After all this, Joe?" She asked him.

"After all we've done, you'd give it up for the call of adventure?"

"It's not the call of adventure, it's the call of my family, and I'll always be there to answer it." Joe told her as he lifted up his pistol and fired at her skull.

The hazmat team ran to the Commander's body as Jethro pressed the elevator button and started to slowly close the doors.

"What have you done?" A member of the hazmat team asked as Joe waited in the elevator.

"I answered another call."

The door closed and the three waited for what waited for them at the bottom.

"Was that too many 'calling' puns?" Joe asked him.

"Nah, you're fine." Jethro answered.

"Man, you're cooler than that other black guy." Joe said.

Lennie ran into a group of cells below Dodson's office, and looked around. It was a large feeding pen for ghoulmounts, Lennie recognized the mix breed of horse and ghoul, judging from the horse body and the skinny, torn up flesh of a ghoul's upper body for the head. Several of them scattered around the area, eating vegetables in their pens.

"Oh, I'm _totally_ taking you guys with me." Lennie smiled at them.

"You're okay now, baby girl. It's okay." Joe told me as he gave me a stimpak in the elevator.

I coughed up blood and fell to my side in the elevator as I shook my head. I slowly rose to my feet, and stared weakly around the room in confusion.

"W…"

Joe caught me from falling to my side and looked at me with a big smile.

"Hold, on," Joe said quietly as he reached for my face to get something off of it. "You got a little…"

Joe reset my broken nose, jolting me awake and I slammed my back into the elevator walls and held my face in pain.

"OH FUCK! FUCK YOU! FUUUUUCK!" I shouted as I felt my nose and wiggled it around.

"You're welcome!" Joe smiled.

"Why… didn't you warn me… you shit?" I asked him.

"It would have been better if you didn't see it coming."

"Because everything has always been better for us that way, right?"

"Good point, Sarah, you're so smart. Let me just break your nose again and we'll continue from there." Joe said sarcastically.

"No I'm good. So what are we doing next?" I asked them.

"You're not doing anything. You're going back to the annex to heal properly." Joe told me.

"Hell no! I got shit to do!"

"And we'll handle that shit ourselves. You're in no shape to be fighting anyone for a while."

Joe looked over at my leg, pulled out a tranquilizer dart and threw it on the ground.

"You also had a little…." Joe started quietly as we looked at the dart.

"We're not even fully done with the escape plan; we're still waiting on Ulysses." Jethro told me.

"_Ulysses_? Ulysses—"

"We already know. We've decided to let it go until we get out of here." Joe announced the plan.

The three of us ran back to the annex, and shut the door behind us quickly.

"Did everyone make it back okay?" Joe asked them.

"Lennie's still not back yet." Kat told him.

"Dammit. Did you see where he went?"

"He wanted to show us something near the bleachers."

"I'll go get him." Joe sighed as he left the annex.

"How are the bombs?" Jethro asked.

"Almost done, I'm making the final one now. They're linked to the same detonator; we don't need a fuse line anymore after the stuff that Joe brought from his last match." Ulysses answered as he motioned over at the group of explosives.

"I'll start setting them up." Kat told him as she took the plastic shaped charges.

"Now who's going to take the detonator?" Ulysses asked as he lifted up the small button that was the size of his index finger.

"I'll do it." Sandy said.

"No, I'll handle it." Hank said as he stepped in front of her.

"Hank, I can do this!" Sandy argued.

"We don't have time to argue with each other. Just start going to the source, Dodson's probably funneling his guards there this very second." Ulysses told them.

"What about me?" I asked him.

"You lay down. We have enough people for this, you just stay here." Ulysses told me.

I shook my head and sat in the couch while the room packed up their weapons and ran out. Soon the room was empty, and I lay down on the couch, an intense nothingness burning inside of me.

"Why won't you let me hold the detonator, Hank? I can do it, I won't mess this up!" Sandy argued.

"I've never thought you were incapable of doing anything, Sandy. I know you can, I'm holding it because I don't want to let someone else get hurt." Hank told her.

Sandy silently nodded understandably as they ran over with the Red Team to the barricaded door. Groups of bodies blanketed the area as a firefight has already started there.

"We'll start the distraction. You guys go in the side." Cassidy told the two.

"Be careful, you two." Jethro told them as he put on his night vision goggles and checked his new dart guns.

"You all ready?" Cassidy asked the little girls.

They nodded as the two groups dispersed and ran around the open door as two guards held the position.

"This is going to be easier than we thought." Jethro said as he walked over to them.

"Back away!" A guard yelled at the group.

They stood silently, the two adults standing in front of a group of children as their held blank faces.

The two guards stepped forward and held their weapons up at them as they stared back.

"I SAID BACK OFF!" The guards shouted.

Jethro lifted up his dual dart guns and fired needles at their bare necks. The guards choked silently as they fell to their hands and knees, screaming in fear at something.

"What was that you used?" Cassidy asked him.

"I put some Ruse in the darts."

"STOP! STOP, I'M NOT HUNGRY!" A guard shouted as he choked on fake food.

The other made animal noises and scratched at their neck until the two fell over and slipped into madness.

"It's all good, guys!" Jethro called to Sandy and Hank.

The two ran past the downed guards and into the room with the last bomb and detonator. The room was small, the only thing of important was a bare pipe exposed in the wall. Hank pulled the charge out and stuck it to the pipe and began to arm it.

Kat dropped from the vents and next to Lennie as he tried to cut through the bars with a blade.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"Do you not see these?" Lennie asked her.

"Whoa! Holy crap!" Kat smiled as she looked at the ghoul mounts in the pen.

"I was thinking we could escape with these. Come help me." Lennie told her as he cut faster through the metal bars.

"I don't think that's going to work."

"Well what do you have in mind?"

Kat lifted up an explosive from her pack and showed it to Lennie.

"I had Ulysses make an extra, just in case." Kat smiled as she tantalized him.

"I will name the first one after you if you let me use that." Lennie told her with a nod.

"What's going on?" Joe asked them as he walked over to the pens.

"I want these, Joe. I _want_ these." Lennie answered.

"Well, Lennie, sometimes you need to do these things because that's obviously the smartest decision a human being could ever make, ever." Joe nodded as the three faced the animals.

"So you'll help me?" Lennie asked.

"I should be doing something less important to my needs as person, but this seems like the best idea right now." Joe nodded.

"I'll set the charge." Kat smiled as she ran to the nearest wall under the office.

I laid in the bed as I heard gunshots echo off in the Steamworks. It finally got to me, and I rose to my feet and grabbed a .45 pistol with my working arm and left the annex with a limp.

I exited the annex to a fight between the rest of Dodson's guards and the remaining fighters of the teams. The guards overpowered them with superior numbers, and the black armored goons ran everywhere I could see, almost coming out of thin air. They ran from Dodson's office to protect him as he watched from the cracked and bloodstained window. I shuffled against the crowd of guards as they ran past me to join the fight. I gripped the pistol weakly in my hand as the guards sprinted past me, nudging me out of the way as I limped to Dodson's elevator. The room spun around my dizzy head as I heard faint arguments and screams over the gunfights in the distance. I watched from my barely open eye, wading through the crowd of guards, looking up at Dodson through the cracked window as he sternly watched over me.

I blinked for a second, and found myself in a vault, Dodson's window replaced with an overseer watching over the citizens of the vault. The guards were replaced by security forces and fleeing people in vault suits as they fired into the crowd. This felt so real to me, the air changed, I could smell different smells, I could feel the air conditioning of the vault. I felt insane, that was the only word I could use to describe it.

I snapped back into reality as I reached the elevator doors and opened them, waiting against the wall as fell weakly against the wall. I felt my stomach and looked down at my hand. I was shot, and I didn't even realize it. My flannel burned away as my skin bled from energy shot. I decided to ignore it, my prime goal being Dodson. I lifted myself up from the elevator and shuffled out, aiming my pistol at a guard and fired before he could. The guard fell, exposing me Dodson as he stood at the window, looking over at the security camera footage of the arena. I lifted up at the pistol as I moved slowly over him, my breathing labored heavily.

"You've got to be kidding me." Dodson said as I struggled to keep my arm pointing at Dodson's head.

He slapped the pistol out of the way and punched me in the face, and I stumbled backwards and almost fell over.

"When are you going to realize you've lost, Sarah? Until you kill yourself and all of your friends?"

My breathing got heavier, and inhaling took more effort for me as I lifted myself up and tried to aim at Dodson again.

Dodson ripped the pistol from my hands and pulled my hand forward, punching me in the face as he separated me from my gun.

"Why are you making me out like this is all _my _fault? Your Legion friend put you in this position, yet you still side with him, why's that Sarah? Is it because you agree with him? Is it because you realized you have something in common with those rapists and murderers over at Caesar's?"

I threw a weak punch at Dodson's face, and he absorbed the pain, and came back with a faster, stronger uppercut, sending me up and off my feet and onto his desk, on my back.

"What do you think you're going to do the first thing you leave this place? Let me tell you, you're going to keep pushing yourself, blinded by your own ignorance, like you have some gift to save people, like you're _not_ actually killing the people who get in your way!"

I lifted my head up weakly from the desk, and Dodson kicked it back down with his loafer, smacking my head back into the desk.

"You may think all those guys you kill and steal from are the bad guys, but let me let you in on a little secret, Marston; it's all a chain out there! You kill one guy and his family puts a hit out on you for revenge. _This is what I do_, Sarah! You end families, and they pay me to keep you from going on a rampage!"

I opened my eye again and grunted as Dodson backhanded it shut again.

"There isn't always just one guy that's doing all this. They'll _always_ be more of me, they'll _always_ be someone who says that the outside world shouldn't be like this, that's why you'll paint out people like Caesar, House and I like demons, because we're visionaries with a similar goal. This is why you're fighting down here, Marston. It's to teach people like you the only lesson you'll ever teach yourself; how far is too far to be trying to be right? This is the only way we can revive society, Sarah, and _you're_ getting in the way for personal reasons!"

He looked down at me as my breathing slowed down to a long breath.

"And let me guess, you and your friends are just going to keep pushing it, like I never said any of this at all! Maybe _that's_ why you're here, Sarah, because it was _your_ fault! You ever think you have too much freedom, like somehow that's the reason why any of this is happening to you? That's what makes you a prisoner here, Sarah, because _you_ refuse change!"

My breathing stopped, and I sat slumped against his desk.

"You people never learn." Dodson said quietly as he went to a terminal and pressed a few buttons.

The arena gave out loud sirens and emergency lighting lit up the Steamworks as the battle raged on below.

"Hurry up in there, these guys are everywhere!" Jethro yelled as they took cover and fired at the army of guards.

"I'm almost done!" Hank yelled as he finished setting the charge.

"Then let's get out of here!" Sandy yelled as she tapped Hank's shoulder as the area buzzed with sirens.

The entrance to the pipe room buzzed loudly, and a thick metal door rose from the ground and locked the room down, separating the two groups with thick steel.

"HEY! HELP!" Sandy yelled as she pounded on the metal door.

Hank stood next to her in fear as he looked over at the detonator in his left hand.

"You need to find a way out of here, now." Hank told her sternly, his jaw chattering slightly.

"There isn't!" She shouted as she pounded on the metal door.

Thick metal walls surrounded the arena, blocking it off from the outside world with steel. The window over the Great arena was covered with metal, the walls replaced with it everywhere.

"What the hell happened?" Lennie asked as the animals were blocked off from them.

"Aw, not the animals!" Joe exclaimed sadly.

"I'm done with all the charges, guys!" Kat yelled from the vent.

"Uh…" The two men looked at each other as they found themselves locked in a room with a bomb at the end of it.

Dodson continued to look out through the bloody cracks of his window as the arena went into full lockdown. He heard a slump behind him, and turned around to a pistol aimed at his head. Ulysses held the pistol against his head, and Dodson held his head against the window in fear.

"That's what marks the difference between us, Dodson. People like us actually play the game to see what changes. You will never be the first, or the last to think of the future in such a way. Democracy has obviously failed, and so has dictatorship. There's nothing left to try anymore, we're finally caught in an endless cycle until we all give up. That's why we play this game, because _I_ know my history, and I know that whatever lies ahead will be futile regardless."

"T-The arena's in lockdown. There's no escape unless I put in the code. Look." Dodson told him, as they looked at the security footage of Sandy and Hank trapped in the room with the bomb.

"You say you think of the future, I think _further_. We've placed explosives on your weak points of the arena, and when they go off, they'll lift the lockdown and treat the fire."

"You really want to let those two die for it?" Dodson asked him.

"Hank…" Sandy said worriedly in the room.

"I know." He told her as he slumped against the bomb.

"What are we going to do?" She asked him.

"I…I don't know…" He said with his voice scared as he held the detonator in his hand.

Sandy sat next to him, and the two looked at the detonator in his hand.

"Let me do it. Just close your eyes." Hank told her.

"No. This is something we're both going to do." She told him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Hank played with the toy monkey foot necklace as Sandy placed her hand over his on the detonator. Their thumbs sat onto of each other, and they pressed down on it together.

Behind Dodson's head, a ravenous explosion blasted all around the arena, setting the ceiling ablaze and sending cement cracking off the ceiling and hurling onto guards and arena fighters. Brilliant explosions set off in a line everywhere, setting off alarms and lifting the lockdown as fire raining down on everyone.

"You idiot! Do you know what you've done?!" Dodson shouted at him.

"I've run out the clock. We've beaten your game." Ulysses answered as he pointed the pistol at his legs and shot into both his kneecaps.

The lockdown lifted as the wall below Dodson's office blew open, setting the ghoulmounts free as Lennie, Joe and Kat rode on them through the flaming arena.

"THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" Lennie shouted as he rode the mount through the flames and guards of the arena.

Ulysses turned around to my body and shook his head sadly at me, kicking Dodson out of his window afterward, sending down into the stampede of ghoulmounts. Ulysses made his way down to Dodson stopped a mount as The Blue and Red Team jumped onto a mount of their choice ahead. Ulysses lifted Dodson's bleeding, unconscious body onto the same mount and rode off into the fire as it shot out through the vents all around.

The ghoulmounts trampled through the burning guards as Ulysses ducked shooting flame, following the stampede into the bleachers. The Great Arena was set ablaze, chains of explosions blasted apart the metal dome and walls as the ghoulmounts ran up and out of the arena to the night.

The mounts stopped, and rested outside as the survivors of the arena stood and watched the arena blow up underground, shooting out flame and shaking the ground with the results of the bombs.

"Where's Hank and Sandy?" Lennie asked.

Jethro and Sandy looked at Lennie, and then back at the arena sadly.

Ulysses stopped next to Joe, and got off his mount.

"Tie him up." Ulysses told Lennie.

"Wait, didn't you go back for Sarah?" Joe asked him.

"Joe—"

"She's still in there!" Joe shouted as he sprinted back to the fiery exit of the arena.

Ulysses grabbed Joe, and kept him from burning up into the fire. Joe angrily shook Ulysses as he forcibly held onto Joe as he reached out to the impossibly hot entrance of the arena.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!" Joe shouted at him as he elbowed Ulysses in the face and ran at the fire.

Lennie stepped in front of him, and aimed a pistol at Joe, stopping him before he reached the fire.

"I can't let you go in there, Joe." Lennie told him sadly.

"I can save her, I can still save her!" Joe sobbed.

"You can only save yourself right now." Lennie told him.

"If you don't drop that gun right now, you're dead to me, Lennie." Joe growled.

Lennie silently continued to aim his pistol at Joe, and the two faced each other in front of the fire. Joe shook his head and fell into the ground, crying as Lennie slowly lowered his pistol and gave it back to Cassidy.

The survivors stood under the moonlight, next to the sleeping mounts as they looked down at Joe, the explosions continuing to blow apart the remains of the arena.

Lennie walked over to Dodson as he tried to crawl away with his hands and shot legs tied up. Lennie pushed his foot into Dodson's side and flipped him over.

"Oh… hello, Leonard." Dodson greeted from the ground.

"I think you have something to tell me, Dodson."


	91. Chapter 91

**Chapter 91: The End**

I snapped to life for an instant, awaking to my lungs feeling like they were being peeled with the smoke and ash settled all over my body. I could barely see, or breathe at all. I felt the desk underneath me and rolled off of it as I choked on the blanketed smoke in the office. I held the pistol I wanted to kill Dodson with in my right hand, with my left arm still being dislocated and bent out of shape across my stomach. I held my blue cloth to my mouth and tried to save my lungs from anything else as the oxygen was sucked out of them and added to the fires all around me. The ground shook with the explosive vents flying open all around me, so I ducked and kept crawling on my knees as my eyes turned red and my face turned blue. I got up to start running, but I fell down after I tripped over flaming debris. I coughed and sobbed hysterically as I exhaled panicked screams as I looked at the endless black smoke. I got to my feet, looking quickly around the room for an escape. That was when a vent blew open.

A fireball launched itself out of its hiding place and blast the front of my body as I shouted. I saw a bright flash, and then returned to see myself on the ground, surrounded by fire and looking at my hands as the fingers were blasted off my body. That vision instantly went away as I witnessed myself sitting down, and looking at a television monitor.

"She's gone, Fredrickson. What are we going to tell her family?" Someone asked to my left. I spotted Lawson in an orderly uniform looking at the same screen at me. He glanced over to me worriedly as I sat in a chair next to Dr. Fredrickson. I spotted Lawson using a white walking cane to support himself as his leg limped around the security room.

"We're not telling her family anything, because she doesn't have one. She has no next of kin on record, no one knows she was ever here." Dr. Fredrickson told him.

"Wow, that's rough."

"She stopped getting visitors a couple months back after her old handler passed, and that's all she had apparently. No friends or anything."

"Did Sady ever say anything to you about her escape, Charlotte?" Dr. Fredrickson asked as he turned his face over to me. I looked at him with a confused squint and looked into a black monitor and spotted an familiar face that was not my own. I quickly looked back.

"No, but you could have expected something like that from her. You read her file, all of us did, right?" I formulated the response quickly, being totally comfortable with speaking to him.

"I read it. I just don't know how we're supposed to lean the press away from this." Lawson told us.

"Just call up the station and send a squad after her." I suggested.

"I'll call them up now." Lawson responded as he dialed up the phone.

"You've done enough for us today, Charlotte. You can take the rest of the day off." Fredrickson told me.

"Thanks. Good luck with the search." I smiled as I got up and put the chair under the desk.

"Hey, did someone unplug something? The phone's not working." Lawson asked as he searched the room.

"Wait, what's that sound?" Fredrickson asked as he walked to the barred up window and opened up the glass to the beautiful outside.

The three of us walked to the window and heard constant sirens going off in the distance.

"Is that coming from the military base?" Lawson asked.

"Turn the tv on." Fredrickson said quickly as we moved to the other side of the room.

The broadcast was muted as a bar of words saying "Emergency Alert System scrolled over the screen as is beeped and buzzed out ear-straining sounds.

"This is a national emergency. This broadcast was issued by the request of the United States Government." A robotic voice told us.

"This is not a test." It echoed in our heads.

"Several nuclear missiles have been launched from unknown locations and are expected to strike the United States within the next 15 minutes. Due to the uncertain tracks of these missiles, all citizens are should seek out shelter immediately."

"Oh God..." Fredrickson gasped.

"We have to go now, where's the nearest shelter?" He asked.

"There's a preservation shelter down the road. Let's go." Lawson told us as they quickly left the room.

"Charlotte, let's go!" Lawson yelled as the two left.

I walked slowly to the security screen as the sirens blared louder in my head. I sat down in the chair and looked up at all the screens displaying patients around the asylum. I stared up and watched the patients argue and forgive each other and laugh and cry as I stood a the desk as the omniscient sole head of the asylum, the all-knowing ruler that knew exactly what was going to happen and what I needed to do. I knew everything about everything going on inside the walls. It was familiar, but not enough to figure out. I got up and left the room, passing by several cells with patients inside, all looking at me.

"N-Nurse? I-Is it time yet? I want to go." A patient asked me as I ignored him and tied my red hair into a bun.

"What's that sound? Is it time yet? What do you want me to do, nurse Charlotte?" Another asked.

I walked outside the asylum via a keycard in my pocket. I traversed into the beautiful wilderness with squirrels running and birds chirping above me. I looked ahead to see trucks and cars all bumper-to-bumper with supplies strapped to them. Dozens of families ran through the streets, screaming in panic as they took all they could carry with them to the preservation pods on the streets. The sirens continued to warn us as I looked up into the sky. Several black dots rained over us, separating as they flew down from hundreds of thousands of feet above our heads. I shook my head and turned back to the asylum, closing the gates and doors behind me as loud sounds popped off from everywhere.

**"The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."**

**-Isaiah 57:1-2**

**END**


End file.
